US trade deficit shrinks in February as Americans buy fewer cars and cell phones
America's trade shortfall with the rest of the world narrowed sharply in February amid a large decline in imports of primarily consumer goods such as cell phones and passenger cars.
The total US deficit in its trade on goods and services shrank by 9.7% month-on-month to reach $43.6bn, according to the Department of Commerce.
That was far less than the -$46.5bn of red ink which analysts had penciled in.
Meanwhile, the estimated deficit for January was revised lower from -$48.5bn to -$48.2bn.
Exports of goods rose by $0.4bn to $128.5bn as imports decreased by $4.2bn to $193.4bn.
Imports of consumer goods fell by $3.1bn while those of automobiles and parts did so by $2.6bn, with the combined drop partially offset by increased purchases of oil from overseas to the tune of $1.3bn.
Services exports on the other hand edged higher by less than $0.1bn to $64.4bn, while imports slipped by under $0.1bn to $43.0bn.
Thus, the deficit on the goods trade balance declined by $4.6bn to $65.0bn, while the surplus in services edged higher by $0.1bn to $21.4bn.
Tuesday's data appeared to confirm industry figures piblished the day before which revealed that US light vehicle sales for March ran at an annualised pace of 16.53m units in March, well below the 17.30m which analysts had forecast.