Smaller Dec US trade deficit caps worst year in four

Bloomberg

The US trade deficit narrowed in December for the first time in three months, a modest improvement that nonetheless left the gap for all of last year at its widest since 2012.
The monthly shortfall shrank 3.2 percent to $44.3 billion, Commerce Department figures showed on Tuesday.
The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a deficit of $45 billion. For all of 2016, the deficit
increased 0.4 percent $502.3 billion, including a wider annual gap with Mexico and a smaller one with China.
The strongest monthly gain in exports in four years probably stemmed from more stable demand in overseas markets.
While a bigger annual deficit reflects President Donald Trump’s concern that other nations are benefiting from jobs and manufacturing at America’s expense, an improving economy makes it tough to shrink the gap as ste-
ady US consumer spending drives imports.
Bloomberg survey estimates for the December goods-and-services trade deficit ranged from $42
billion to $46 billion. The November gap was revised to $45.7
billion from an initially reported $45.2 billion.
Exports in December increased 2.7 percent, the most since September 2012, to $190.7 billion, on higher sales of commercial
aircraft and industrial supplies, the Commerce Department data showed.