Reflecting a sharp increase in the value of exports, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in the month of September.
The Commerce Department said the trade deficit shrank to $52.8 billion in September from a revised $59.3 billion in August.
Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $63.3 billion from the $59.6 billion originally reported for the previous month.
“While trade hawks will likely welcome the news, we aren’t sure we’ll see consistently smaller trade deficits going forward,” Nationwide Financial Markets Economist Oren Klachkin said of the trade report.
“Looking ahead, we see the trade deficit remaining relatively wide next year,” he added. “Firmer export growth fueled by a pickup in global demand and weaker dollar will be largely offset by stronger imports that will be a consequence of firmer US domestic demand.”
The unexpectedly narrower trade deficit came as the value of exports jumped by 3.0 percent to $289.3 billion in September after slipping by 0.2 percent to $280.9 billion in August.
The report showed significant increases in exports of non-monetary gold and pharmaceuticals, which more than offset a decrease in exports of computers.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the value of imports climbed by 0.6 percent to $342.1 billion in September after plunging by 5.2 percent to $340.2 billion in August.
A sharp increase in imports of pharmaceuticals was partly offset by a slump in imports of capital goods, particularly computers.
The report also said the goods deficit shrank to $79.0 billion in September from $86.1 billion in August, while the services surplus narrowed to $26.2 billion in September from $26.8 billion in August.
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