NEW YORK, Oct 8 - The U.S. international trade deficit is expected to have increased in August, with the declining value of the dollar unable to offset strong demand for imported goods, a survey of economists showed. Economists anticipate the trade gap widened to $41.3 billion in August from a July reading of $40.32 billion. August would be the sixth consecutive month that the trade deficit exceeded the benchmark $40 billion level. Some analysts see a weaker dollar as a major factor in helping to redress the growing imbalance between exports and imports, as well as a spiraling U.S. current account deficit, However, August's growing trade gap will not reflect a high demand for U.S. exports, analysts say.
Exports suffered largely from a drop in foreign deliveries of aircraft, although services exports, particularly in the travel sector, managed to stave off a deeper decline. Meanwhile, purchases of international consumer goods and cars are expected to have risen in August, with imports up for the third consecutive month. The U.S. Department of Commerce releases its trade data on Friday Oct. 10, at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).//