The U.S. international trade deficit for goods and services surged 11.2% in September to a record $80.9 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal has forecast a trade gap of $81 billion.
Last week, the government released the deficit in goods alone for September, showing a surge in imports, giving analysts a good gauge of the total deficit. The services deficit widened 4.8% to $17.2 billion in September.
Total exports of goods and services fell 3% to $207.6 billion in September. Imports rose 0.6% to $288.5 billion.
Subtracting the impact of inflation, the real goods deficit increased $9.5 billion to $111 billion in September.
The trade deficit with China widened $3.4 billion to $31.5 billion.
Analysts expect the deficit to narrow once consumers redirect spending toward in-person services and away from goods. But this transition has been slow to come.
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This post was originally published on Market Watch
