Trade Deficit Up Again on Import Rise

The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services increased 5.1 percent in January as imports rose faster than exports.

Imports were up 1.1 percent, to $324.6 billion, from December to January. Imports of goods rose 1.2 percent to $263.4 billion, with increases of $1.1 billion for passenger cars and $1.0 billion for trucks, buses, and special-purpose vehicles along with decreases of $1.9 billion for crude oil and $1.1 billion for cell phones and other household goods. Services imports edged up 0.8 percent to $61.3 billion.

Exports inched up 0.1 percent in January to $257.2 billion. Exports of goods were up 0.1 percent to $171.8 billion, with increases of $1 billion for non-monetary gold, $700 million for passenger cars, and $600 million for consumer goods as well as decreases of $1.4 billion for crude oil and $600 million for fuel oil. Services exports gained 0.2 percent to $85.4 billion.

With exports and imports both up, the monthly U.S. trade deficit increased from $64.2 billion in December to $67.4 billion in January. The deficit in goods trade rose 3.4 percent to $91.6 billion while the services trade surplus fell 1.2 percent to $24.2 billion.