On February 10th, the U.S. Census Bureau released their Merchandise Trade data numbers for December 2009, completing the year’s data. Exports finished strong with 4.83% growth from November and 10.42% growth from December 2008. The Merchandise Trade balance ended the year with a $500 billion total deficit, which is still 37.38% lower than 2008 totals.

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the U.S. Census Merchandise Trade data released last week. This month we have highlighted 5 interesting items that we found while looking at December's data; here are the highlights:

1. Industrial Supplies and Materials Hit Hardest
2. Manufacturing Continues to Expand
3. Anti-Dumping Suits on Taiwan Do Not Effect Trade Patterns with U.S.
4. Printed Materials Still Going Strong
5. National Export Initiative Projections
   

Click here for Zepol's U.S. Census Merchandise Trade Data Update for December 2009