Trade deficit widened in April as a rise in imports offset a rebound in exports, suggesting that trade remained a drag on economic growth as the second quarter started.
The Commerce Department said on Tuesday the trade gap increased 8.5 percent to $40.3 billion. March’s shortfall on the trade balance was revised to $37.1 billion from the previously reported $38.8 billion.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected the trade deficit to rise to $41.0 billion in April.
When adjusted for inflation, the trade gap increased to $47.6 billion from $44.6 billion in March.
Economists said the widening in the so-called real trade deficit indicated that trade continued to weigh on growth early in the second quarter.
via Reuters
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Alfonso Esparza
trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
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