The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the U.S. trade deficit widened in the month of January amid a jump in the value of imports.
The report said the trade deficit increased to $67.4 billion in January from a revised $64.2 billion in December.
Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $63.5 billion from the $62.2 billion originally reported for the previous month.
The wider trade deficit came as the value of imports shot up by 1.1 percent to $324.6 billion in January after jumping 1.4 percent to $321.0 billion in December.
Imports of capital goods and automotive vehicles, parts and engines saw significant growth, offsetting notable decreases in imports of crude oil and cell phones and other household goods.
“Imports remain resilient despite higher shipping costs and slowing growth in consumption,” said Matthew Martin, US Economist at Oxford Economics. “We will upwardly revise our forecast for imports this year, with net trade posing a slightly larger drag on growth.”
He added, “How businesses manage their inventories in the months ahead, particularly for durable goods, will remain a wild card for import growth in the year.”
Meanwhile, the value of exports inched up by 0.1 percent to $257.2 billion in January after advancing by 1.1 percent to $256.9 billion in December.
Increases in exports of automotive vehicles, parts and engines, consumer goods and capital goods were largely offset by a steep drop in exports of industrial supplies and materials, including crude oil.
The report also said the goods trade deficit widened to $91.6 billion in January from $88.6 billion in December, while the services trade surplus narrowed to $24.2 billion from $24.5 billion.
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