Washington, DC, May 11--The deficit narrowed by 9.2% in March to $55 billion. This is the lowest trade deficit since last September and the largest monthly decline since December 2001.
The narrowing of the trade gap was unexpected. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for the deficit to widen to $61.2 billion.
The trade gap in February was revised down to $60.6 billion compared with the initial estimate of $61 billion.
The March trade data might lead to an upward revision in the first quarter gross domestic product growth rate, initially reported at a 3.1% annualized rate. The deficit for March is well below government estimates that were included in the growth estimate. A smaller trade deficit by itself would boost growth.
Exports rose in March while imports had their largest decline since December 2001.
Exports rose 1.5% to $102.2 billion in March. Imports fell 2.5% to $157.2 billion.
Exports of goods alone rose 1.4% to $72.1 billion. The largest increase came in exports of capital goods, which rose 3.3% to $29.1 billion. Exports of civilian aircraft rose 26.9% to $2.4 billion. March exports of consumer goods set a new record, while farm exports were the highest since November 2003.
Imports of goods alone fell 3.1% to $131.5 billion. The decline in imports was widespread, with sharp drops in imports of consumer goods and autos.
The narrowing of the deficit would have been larger except for strong imports of crude oil. The petroleum deficit widened 4% to $17 billion, the second largest petroleum deficit on record.
The U.S. imported 326 million barrels of crude oil in March, or 10.5 million barrels per day, up from 296.9 million in February.
The average price per barrel of oil rose to $41.14 in March from $36.85 in February. This is the largest month to month increase since October 1990.
The trade deficit with China widened to $12.9 billion in March from $10.4 billion in the same month last year. But this is down from $13.9 billion deficit in February.
