U.S. exports are rebounding (5)

Another update in a series. June trade figures are in, and exports rose on a seasonally adjusted basis for the third month in a row. It now looks like we've seen the lows in exports and trade is beginning to revive. This conclusion was suggested a few months ago by rather dramatic pickup in outbound container shipments reported by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and it is now being confirmed by the export data. Imports have been pretty flat for the past several months, but again it looks like the worst is over. Imports tend to be a good indicator of the health of the economy, and they plunged by one-third from their high last July through February of this year, though a good portion of the drop was due to a collapse in oil prices.