The trade deficit in the US unexpectedly widened in June to the highest level since October 2008 as consumer goods imports rose to a record and exports declined.
The gap expanded $7.9 billion, the most since record-keeping began in 1992, to $49.9 billion in June, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington.
A $42.1 billion deficit was projected by economists, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Imports climbed 3 per cent, while exports dropped 1.3 per cent, the most since April 2009.
Increased business investment and consumers who are still spending are helping sustain the US appetite for merchandise made abroad. At the same time, growth in emerging economies such as China may cool, limiting shipments abroad that have benefited companies such as Caterpillar Inc.
The figures signal trade subtracted more from second-quarter gross domestic product than previously estimated. "Clearly not all of these imports of consumer goods are being purchased or consumed and some of it is going into inventories," said Aaron Smith, a senior economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
"It's consistent with slower global growth. We're going to get less of a boost from exports in the second half versus the first half."
Estimates of 73 economists surveyed by Bloomberg ranged from deficits of $38 billion to $50 billion. The gap increased 19 per cent from a May shortfall of $42 billion.
Stock-Index Futures Stock-index futures maintained losses and Treasury securities rose after the report. Futures on the Standard and Poor's 500 Index fell 1.6 per cent to 1,102 at 8.57 am in New York.
The 10-year Treasury note gained, pushing down the yield to 2.72 per cent from 2.76 per cent late yesterday. The yen held gains after earlier strengthening to 84.73 per dollar, the strongest since July, 1995.
The June balance adjusted for inflation, which is the figure used to calculate gross domestic product, increased to $54.1 billion, the highest since February 2008, from $46 billion in May. The gap was larger than the average $42.3 billion a month in the first quarter.
Economists at UBS Securities in New York said the Commerce Department, in estimating growth from April through June at a 2.4 per cent annual rate, assumed a $3.2 billion widening of the adjusted trade deficit in June.
Exports minus imports subtracted 2.8 percentage points from growth during the three months, the most since 1982, the Commerce Department said on July 30th.
Bloomberg