Record exports of U.S. goods and services and a decline in petroleum imports helped narrow the trade deficit in November, the government reported Thursday
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed by 5.8% in November to $64.2 billion, the Commerce Department said. This is the biggest decline in the monthly trade deficit since March
The trade gap in October was revised to a record $68.1 billion, compared with the initial estimate of $68.9 billion
The improvement in the trade deficit was better than expected. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for a deficit of $66.2 billion in November. Exports widened 1.8% to a record $109.3 billion in November, the largest increase since April. Imports slipped 1.1% to $173.5 billion, the first decline in imports since July. I n November, exports of goods alone rose 2.2% to a record $77.4 billion. Exports of capital goods, autos, and consumer goods set new records in the month. Exports of civilian aircraft rose 27.4% to $3.2 billion reflecting strong orders by Boeing Co. U.S. exports to South and Central America set a new record in November. Exports to the European Union were the highest since April. Exports to Germany were the second highest on record
Imports of goods alone fell 1.4% to $146.2 billion. The largest decrease came in imports of industrial supplies, especially energy products. The petroleum deficit narrowed 4.1% to $22.88 billion, the first decline since May. The value of U.S. oil imports fell to $16.40 billion in November from $17.14 billion in October as the price of a barrel of oil fell to $52.16 in November from $56.29 in October. The quantity of crude imports rose to 314.4 million barrels. The U.S. trade deficit with China widened to $18.5 billion in November from $16.7 billion in the same month last year. The U.S. deficit with China might top $200 billion this year. Already, the trade gap with China rose to $185.33 billion in the first eleven months of the year, up from $147.77 billion in the same period last year. In a separate report, the Labor Department said import prices fell in December. At the same time, jobless claims rose 17,000 to 309,000 in the latest week