Washington, DC, Jun. 14--Defying the predictions of economists, the U.S. trade gap surged further into record territory in April.
The U.S. trade deficit widened 3.8 percent in April to a record $48.3 billion, the Commerce Department said Monday. This is the second straight month of a record trade gap.
The widening of the trade deficit was unexpected.
Wall Street economists had predicted that the trade deficit would not continue to expand. They forecast that the deficit would narrow to $45.1 billion.
The March trade deficit was revised to $46.7 billion from the initial estimate last month of $46.0 billion.
Imports continued to increase while exports fell in April after two impressive monthly gains.
Imports rose 0.2 percent to a record $142.3 billion.
Exports fell 1.5 percent to $93.9 billion. This is the largest decline in exports since August 2003.
Imports of goods alone rose 0.2 percent to $118.9 billion. Imports of non-petroleum goods, autos, parts and engines, and consumer goods set new records.
Exports of goods alone fell 2.3 percent to $65.8 billion. The largest decline game in exports of capital goods, which fell 2.3 percent to $27.1 billion. Exports of civilian aircraft fell 20.4 percent to $1.7 billion.
The U.S. trade deficit was not widened as a result of more oil imports. In fact, the petroleum deficit narrowed 11 percent to $11.6 billion.
The U.S. imported 311.9 million barrels of crude oil in April, or 10.4 million barrels per day, down from $331.7 million or 10.7 million per day in March.
The average price per barrel of oil rose to $31.00 in April from $30.64 in March. This is the highest monthly average price since February 1983.
The U.S. trade deficit with China widened to $12.0 billion in April compared with $9.4 billion in the same month last year. This is the largest trade gap with China since last October.
