December U.S. Trade Deficit Rises Sharply

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By Paul Ausick Updated Published

Maersk container ship

Courtesy Maersk Line
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday morning that the U.S. trade deficit for December 2013 totaled $38.7 billion, up from $34.6 billion in November. That is a jump of 11.8%. Economists had expected a deficit of $36 billion.

Total U.S. exports reached $191.3 billion in December, while total imports reached $230 billion. Exports fell by $3.5 billion compared with November, and imports rose by $600 million.

Exports of U.S. goods fell from $137.1 billion in November to $132.8 billion in December, a difference of $4.3 billion. Imports of goods into the United States rose from $191.3 billion in November to $191.6 billion, a rise of $300 million.

Exports of services rose by $800 million in December to $58.5 billion, and imports of services rose by $300 million to $38.4 billion.

For the three months ending in December, the rolling average U.S. trade deficit was $37.4 billion, composed of $193.1 billion in exports and $230.6 billion in imports. The rolling average was $1.4 billion lower than November’s rolling average.

The U.S. trade deficit with China dipped $2.4 billion to $24.5 billion in December, while the deficit with OPEC countries fell by $800 million to $4 billion. The trade deficit with Europe rose by $1.2 billion to $11.3 billion. The United States ran trade surpluses with Hong Kong ($3.3 billion), Australia ($1.6 billion), Singapore ($1.2 billion) and Brazil ($1.5 billion).

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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