WASHINGTON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. current-account deficit, a measure of the nation's debt to other nations, shrank to 130.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2019, data released Thursday by the Department of Commerce showed.
The preliminary first-quarter figure is 9.4 percent below the previous quarter's revised reading of 143.9 billion dollars, according to the department.
As a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product, the deficit dropped to 2.5 percent from 2.8 percent, the data indicated.
The statistics further suggested that the decrease in current-account deficit was largely driven by narrowing deficit on international trade in goods, which slid to 216.5 billion dollars from 232.3 billion dollars.
As for international trade in services, U.S surplus expanded in the first three months of this year, up by 0.7 billion dollars from the previous quarter to 61.9 billion dollars.
The current-account deficit reveals whether a nation is a net lender or a net debtor.
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