Trade and Manufacturing Data Point to Slower Fourth-Quarter Growth

The trade deficit in goods is widening, while business capital orders declined

Eric Morath and

Josh Zumbrun

Updated Oct. 25, 2018 1:08 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—This year’s robust economic growth appears poised to cool in the final months of 2018 as the U.S. faces headwinds from international trade and an easing of private-sector demand for manufactured products.

The trade deficit in goods widened for the fourth month in a row in September, the Commerce Department said Thursday. A widening trade gap is typically a drag on the measure of gross domestic product. A separate Commerce Department measure of demand for long-lasting manufactured goods rose in September due to a...