The US trade deficit widened in December as a strong dollar and weak global demand continued to weigh on exports.
Advertisement
The year 2015 marked the first year since 2009 that the US exports declined year over year.
The Commerce Department said today the trade gap rose 2.7% to US$43.4 billion (RM180 billion).
Imports were $2.8 billion for 2015, a decline of $89.7 billion, or 3.1 percent, from 2014, according to the Bureau.
The December increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $1.3 billion to $62.5 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $0.1 billion to $19.2 billion. Exports were $2.2 billion last year, a decrease of $112.9 billion, or 4.8 percent, from the previous year.
Imports of goods increased $0.5 billion to $183.7 billion, largely due to a $1.0 billion increase in imports of automotive vehicles and parts. The deficit subtracted about one-half percentage point from growth in 2015, a year when the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew by a modest 2.4 percent. Canadians also imported more communications and audio and video equipment, consumer goods including clothing and footwear, and crude oil and crude bitumen. On Friday, Feb. 5, the Commerce Department reports on the US trade gap for December.
Advertisement
Imports of food, capital goods such as machinery and foreign-made autos and auto parts all set records in 2015, reflecting in part a stronger dollar which made foreign goods more competitive in the USA market. The January figures follow seasonally adjusted job growth of 262,000 in December and 280,000 in November.
