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Bloomberg
The US merchandise-trade deficit narrowed in November to the smallest since December 2020 due to a plunge in imports.
The shortfall decreased 15.6% — the most since 2009 — to $83.3 billion last month, Commerce Department data showed on Tuesday. The figures, which aren’t adjusted for inflation, compared with a median estimate for a gap of $96.3 billion in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Imports retreated 7.6% to $252.2 billion, the lowest in more than a year. The value of exports declined 3.1% to $168.9 billion.
The decline in imports was broad based, led by a 13% drop in the value of consumer goods.
Retail inventories ticked up 0.1% in November to $738.7 billion from a month earlier. They had been declining as companies worked through stockpiles by offering steep discounts in the lead-up to the holiday-shopping season.