Economics
U.S. Goods-Trade Gap Unexpectedly Narrows on Drop in Imports
- Deficit is smaller than all estimates in Bloomberg survey
- Retail inventories rose 1.6%, the most since March 2011
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The U.S. merchandise-trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in September from the prior month’s record as imports declined for the first time in four months.
The deficit shrank to $79.4 billion from $83.1 billion in August, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday. The figure was narrower than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists that had called for an $84.5 billion shortfall in September. Imports fell by 0.2% to $201.4 billion while exports increased 2.7% to $122 billion.