The U.S. Census Bureau this week released advance indicators showing that the international trade deficit and wholesale inventories both decreased in September.

The international trade deficit was $79.4 billion in September, down $3.7 billion from $83.1 billion in August. Exports of goods for September were $122 billion, $3.2 billion more than August exports. Imports of goods for September were $201.4 billion, $0.5 billion less than August imports.

Wholesale inventories for September, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $634.8 billion, down 0.1% from August 2020, and were down 4.5% from September 2019. The July 2020 to August 2020 percentage change was revised from up 0.4% to up 0.3%.