U.S. Trade Deficit Spikes To Over Two-Year High In December

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed the U.S. trade deficit widened significantly in December, as imports surged and exports plunged.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit spiked to $98.4 billion in December from a revised $78.9 billion in November.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to jump to $96.6 billion from the $78.2 billion originally reported for the previous month.

With the sharp increase, the trade deficit reached its highest level since hitting a record $101.9 billion in March 2022.

The spike in the size of the trade deficit came as the value of imports shot up by 3.5 percent to $364.9 billion, while the value of exports tumbled by 2.6 percent to $266.5 billion.

The value of imports soared to a record high due in part to a surge in imports of industrial supplies and materials, including finished metal shapes.

Imports of consumer goods, capital goods and services also increased, while imports of automotive vehicles, parts and engines decreased.

Meanwhile, the slump by the value of exports reflected decreases by exports of consumer goods, industrial supplies and materials, capital goods and automotive vehicles, parts and engines.

The report also said the goods deficit widened to $123.0 billion in December from $104.5 billion in November, while the services surplus narrowed to $24.5 billion in December from $25.1 billion in November.