Trade Gap Jumps to Two-Year High as Americans Buy Imports

The trade deficit ballooned in April to the widest in two years as Americans bought record amounts of consumer goods, business equipment and automobiles from abroad.

The gap grew by 6.9 percent to $47.2 billion from the prior month’s $44.2 billion, which was larger than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The April reading exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of 70 economists and was the biggest since April 2012. Exports were little changed.