However, we know these trade figures jump about a lot from quarter to quarter.
Transfer pricing used by multinationals to shift profits around the globe may distort trade figures.
Nonetheless, the dollar dropped on the news, a decline that grew steeper after Wednesday's trade figures.
Today's trade figures show David Cameron has a battle on his hands boosting Britain's exports.
Britain's trade figures in July were much better than they were the month before.
Much of the PGM trade moves through Switzerland, so the industry keeps tabs on the trade figures.
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The trade figures were robust with exports climbing 15.3% and imports 12.1%, beating expectations by wide margins.
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The turnaround in the monthly deficit number shows, yet again, just how volatile the trade figures can be.
So what do these latest trade figures actually mean, and are they really the good news markets think?
Analysts said that the trade figures would cut the country's economic growth in the first three months of 2013.
Some analysts said the trade figures cast doubt over whether exporters would be able to drive the UK recovery.
Meantime, in China there was some better-than-expected trade figures released over the weekend.
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When the August trade figures came out, I noted the curious strength of Britain's exports to the eurozone.
The most recent trade figures show exports up by 18%, year on year, and imports up by a staggering 56%.
Although they rarely make headlines, their leadership is abundantly apparent in international trade figures, not least in bilateral Japan-Korea trade.
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October's trade figures, released just before Christmas, showed that although exports were still holding their own, imports were picking up.
Nor, it must be said, is economic growth of the sort that the trade figures reflect tantamount to an inflationary alarm.
Many Asian export economies have reported weak trade figures in recent months.
You may not have seen much written about this subject in recent years but the trend is acutely apparent in U.S. trade figures.
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The make-up of the incoming Senate makes such actions more possible as early as January, when Congress returns and year-end trade figures are announced.
Admittedly, the trade figures always swing around wildly, and this fall was due more to a fall in imports than any surge in sales abroad.
Despite disappointing trade figures this week, in the year to November export volumes (excluding oil and erratic items) were 7.1% higher than a year before.
For a start the current-account deficit is likely to overshoot projections of about 3% of GDP for 2011, if October's trade figures are anything to go by.
Proof of that can come only from the trade figures, and it is true that, this year, exports have held up despite a fall in commodity prices.
"This is further evidence of re-balancing across the economy, with the latest UK trade figures showing record levels of exports going to countries outside the EU, such as the US and China, " he said.
Nowhere does it mention that U.S. manufacturing jobs peaked in 1979 (well before trade with China was more than a statistical rounding error in our total trade figures) and has been trending downward ever since.
" In spite of uninspiring trade figures, the global electronics slump, and concerns about poor earnings in the property sector, he says: "We believe economic growth in the second half will surprise on the upside.
The June trade figures suggest the export recovery is weakening as well: the volume of goods exported (excluding the most erratic items) was 2.5% lower than a year ago, and 4.4% down on the month.
But the new trade figures underscore how much more needs to be done if we want to catch up with the likes of Germany and count on those markets for a significant part of our growth.
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