October 11, 2009
The U.S. trade deficit decreased3.6 percent to 30.7 billion dollars in August, the first decline in four months, the Commerce Department reported last Friday.
The deficit was much better than the 33.6 billion dollar gap that economists had been expecting.
For August, exports of goods and services climbed 0.2 percent to 128.2 billion dollars, led by a 496 million dollar gain in sales of cars and parts. Exports were at their highest level since reaching 132.9 billion dollars in December.
Meanwhile, imports in August dropped 0.6 percent to 158.9 billion dollars mainly due to a 5.7 decrease in petroleum imports.
For all of this year, economists expect the trade deficit to shrink significantly as the recession depresses demand for imported products.