Trade Gap Widens in September

Attention all export promotion programs out there! You have some serious work to do. Listen up.

The United States trade deficit widened by a surprisingly large 11 percent in September, reflecting both a surge in energy imports after Hurricane Katrina and a steep drop in airplane exports because of a strike, the government reported yesterday. The trade gap with China also set a record.

The United States imported $66.1 billion more in goods and services than it exported in the month, breaking the record of $60.4 billion set in February, the Commerce Department reported.

The trade deficit in the first nine months of the year totaled $529.8 billion, about 18 percent higher than in the first nine months of 2004. That figure itself was up 21 percent over the period in 2003.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $61.5 billion in October, according to a survey by Bloomberg News. Some analysts said the gap would narrow in the coming months but others were not as sanguine, saying the deficit would have been wider even without the one-time effects seen in September.

Read more at the NY Times.