By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. trade deficit widened for the first time in four months in December on higher oil imports, the Commerce Department said Friday, but exports continued their upward trend and were nearing record levels.
The nation’s trade deficit expanded 5.9% in December to $40.6 billion from $38.3 billion in November, the Commerce Department said.
This is the first increase and the largest trade gap since September. The U.S. petroleum deficit hit its highest level since October 2008.
Excluding petroleum, however, the deficit actually improved.
A widening of the deficit in December had been expected, but analysts predicted a bigger increase. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected the deficit to widen to $42.0 billion. See complete economic calendar with forecasts.
For all of 2010, the trade deficit totaled $497.8 billion, up 32.8% from 2009. Exports rose 16.6% to $1.83 trillion, and imports rose 19.7% to $2.33 trillion.
Details of the report
In December, both imports and exports rose, but imports increased at a faster pace.
Exports rose 1.8% to $163 billion in December. Exports are 1.6% below their prior record level of $165.7 billion, set in July 2008.
The Obama administration has set a goal to double U.S. exports by 2014.
Imports rose 2.6% to $203.5 billion in December, the highest level since October 2008.
Imports of goods alone rose 3.1% to $170.1 billion. The largest increase came from imports of industrial supplies, principally crude oil. The U.S. imported a record amount of food and consumer goods in December.
Meanwhile, exports of goods alone rose 2.5% to $116.6 billion. Exports of industrial supplies and capital goods hit their highest levels since August 2008. Exports of autos were at their highest point since October 2008.
Exports of civilian aircraft increased in December.
The petroleum deficit widened 26% in December to $25.3 billion. This is the highest level since October 2008.
The value of U.S. crude-oil imports rose to $22.5 billion in December from $19.8 billion in November as the price of oil rose to $79.78 a barrel from $76.81 in the previous month. The quantity of crude imports rose to 282.6 million barrels.
The U.S. trade deficit with China widened to $20.7 billion in December from $18.1 billion in the same month last year. Exports to China hit a record high in the month. The U.S. trade deficit with China hit a record $273.1 billion in 2010.
