US trade deficit widens slightly in December

THE US trade deficit widened slightly in December, but contracted sharply in 2023 as imports declined and exports rose.

The trade deficit increased 0.5 per cent to US$62.2 billion, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Wednesday (Feb 7). Data for November was revised to show the trade gap shrinking to US$61.9 billion instead of US$63.2 billion as previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit easing to US$62.2 billion in December. For the whole of 2023, the trade deficit contracted 18.7 per cent to US$773.4 billion. It represented 2.8 per cent of GDP, down from 3.7 per cent in 2022.

Trade added 0.43 percentage point to the economy’s 3.3 per cent annualised growth rate in the fourth quarter, after being neutral for two straight quarters. REUTERS