Fall in US oil imports narrows trade gap
Print Edition
THE US trade deficit fell in November to the lowest level in 11 months as crude oil imports dropped to a two-decade low.
The trade deficit narrowed to US$39 billion in November, down 7.7 percent from a revised October gap of US$42.2 billion, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.
US exports fell 1 percent to US$196.4 billion, with sales of commercial airliners falling.
Imports dropped even faster, falling 2.2 percent to US$235.4 billion. That was primarily a reflection of foreign oil declines. The volume of crude imported in November hit its lowest level since 1994, while the average price dropped to a two-year low.
The US trade deficit is being helped by falling global oil prices and a boom in US energy output, which has eased reliance on imports.
The November deficit was the lowest since a trade gap of US$37.4 billion in December 2013. Through the first 11 months of 2014, the deficit is running 5.1 percent above the same period in 2013.
The smaller-than-expected deficit for November caused some economists to boost their growth forecasts for the last quarter of the year.
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said trade should be less of a drag on the economy than he had previously expected and is now projecting overall economic growth of 2.25 percent in the October-December quarter.
In November, the trade deficit with China dropped 8 percent to US$29.9 billion.
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