US Trade Deficit Narrows More Than Expected In January
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Bernama-dpa-AFX) -- The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the United States (US) trade deficit narrowed by much more than expected in January, reported dpa-AFX.
The report said the trade deficit shrank to US$54.5 billion in January from a revised US$72.9 billion in December.
Economists had expected the trade deficit to decrease to US$67.9 billion from the US$70.3 billion originally reported for the previous month.
The narrower than expected trade deficit came as the value of exports spiked by 5.5 per cent to US$302.1 billion in January after slumping by 1.6 per cent to US$286.3 billion in December.
Exports of industrial supplies and materials led the rebound amid sharp increases in exports of non-monetary gold and other precious metals.
The report also showed a jump in exports of capital goods like computers and civilian aircraft, while exports of pharmaceuticals decreased.
"Precious metals had a heavy hand in pushing exports higher, so we expect the gap will normalise after these effects pass through," said Nationwide Senior Economist Ben Ayers.
"Of course, this data tells us nothing about how trade will react to the Iranian conflict," he said.
"It's not until we receive the March or even the April data that we'll start to see the impacts of the conflict on US exports and imports," he added.
"The situation is highly fluid, though for now we see exports suffering more than imports since the rest of the world is more exposed."
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the value of imports slid by 0.7 per cent to US$356.6 billion in January after surging by 3.5 per cent to US$359.2 billion in December.
Imports of pharmaceuticals and automotive vehicles, parts and engines slumped during the month, while imports of computers saw a notable increase.
The report also said the goods deficit narrowed to US$81.8 billion in January from US$99.2 billion in December, while the services surplus widened to US$27.3 billion in January from US$26.3 billion in December.
-- BERNAMA-dpa-AFX
