U.S. exports slip in January

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said the January export drop “reaffirms the need for strong trade policies to help U.S. businesses increase exports.”    The Commerce Department said U.S. exports of goods and services decreased to $189.4 billion in January, down from $195 billion in December 2014.
   The department noted, however, that the trade deficit improved by $3.9 billion to $41.8 billion in January and record monthly levels were achieved in exports of insurance and other specific business services.
   Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said the January export drop “reaffirms the need for strong trade policies to help U.S. businesses increase exports.”
   She urged Congress to pass trade promotion authority legislation, which expired in 2007. Pritzker said TPA will help the Obama administration build on its National Export Initiative (NEI) and NEI/NEXT, which were announced in 2010 and 2014, respectively. 
   Last week, Commerce released a report showing that U.S. exports now support a record 11.7 million jobs, 1.8 million more than in 2009.
   U.S. goods and services exports have hit record highs five years in a row, reaching $2.34 trillion in 2014.