The global economic crisis accelerated the US trade deficit, which rose in October by 1.1 percent to 57.2 billion dollars. The October results also showed that America’s trade gap with China had widened, according to U.S. government official figures.
The trade numbers caught economists and experts off guard, as they had forecasted a drop to $53.5 billion. Results show that the American trade deficit with China grew slightly to $27.9 billion in October from 27.8 billion dollars the previous month. The U.S. Commerce Department released the trade figures.
The trade results also show that total trade volume had fallen by 1.7 percent. Declines were registered in imports and exports, a manifestation of the growing impact of the global economic crisis in both the United States and throughout the world. October imports declined by 1.4 percent from September to 208.9 billion dollars. Exports also showed a decline, dropping 2.4 percent to 151.7 billion dollars.
The dismal trade figures highlighted the third straight month of a drop in both imports and exports. The Commerce Department numbers reflect a weakening in the performance of the U.S. economy simultaneously with a reduction of international trade. In the first ten months of 2008 the cumulative American trade deficit was a staggering $590.9 billion.