By Ben Leubsdorf and Eric Morath 
 

WASHINGTON--The current-account deficit, a measure of U.S. trade and financial flows with the rest of the world, widened to $124.105 billion in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a $130.0 billion deficit in the first three months of 2018. The fourth quarter saw a downwardly revised deficit of $116.15 billion.

As a share of the economy, the current-account deficit was 2.5% of current-dollar gross domestic product in the first quarter versus 2.4% of GDP in the fourth quarter.

The current account is a broad measure of transactions with foreign nations, including trade in goods and services as well as financial investments and other money transfers such as remittances. The U.S. has run trade deficits for decades.

In the first quarter, the trade deficit for goods increased, with other transaction categories little changed from late 2017, the agency said.

Wednesday's report included revisions going back several years based on newly available data, and incorporated estimated effects of last year's tax-code overhaul including a one-time repatriation tax on accumulated foreign earnings. The government estimated $250 billion for the repatriation tax at a quarterly rate, recorded in the fourth quarter; that estimate and other figures related to tax effects will be updated with IRS data on a two-year lag.

The Commerce Department's latest report on U.S. international transactions can be accessed at: https://bea.gov/newsreleases/international/transactions/transnewsrelease.htm

Write to Ben Leubsdorf at ben.leubsdorf@wsj.com and Eric Morath at eric.morath@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 20, 2018 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)

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