WASHINGTON: The United States trade deficit increased sharply in September, to $41.8 billion, as imports swelled, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
The increase in the trade gap was much larger than analysts expected, with the average estimate pegged at $39.1 billion.
The Commerce Department slightly downwardly revised the August trade deficit to $38.7 billion, previously estimated at $38.8 billion.
In September, US imports jumped $2.7 billion from the prior month to $230.7 billion.
Exports fell to $188.9 billion from $189.2 billion in August.
Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said the report was “worse than expected” and implied the Commerce Department would downwardly revise its estimate for third-quarter economic growth, initially seen at an annual rate of 2.8 percent.
The goods deficit was $2.5 billion higher than the department first estimated, “implying a 0.24 percent downward revision to headline GDP growth, other things equal,” he said.
The September data showed little movement from a year ago. Exports were up 1.1 and imports were up 1 percent from September 2012.
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