The US trade deficit exploded unexpectedly to a record $55.5 billion in October, sparked by the soaring cost of oil imports, the government said today. The gap grew from $50.9 billion in September.
Wall Street analysts had predicted an October shortfall of about $53 billion.
Over the first 10 months of 2004, the US trade deficit amounted to $500.5 billion, already surpassing the entire annual deficit for the previous year.
In November alone, imports of goods and services rose 3.4% to a record $153.5 billion, as American consumers devoured foreign-made goods with the benefit of extraordinarily low interest rates.
The import surge swamped a 0.6% rise in exports to a record $98.1 billion. The gap widened despite a two-year slide in the dollar, which should make US exports relatively cheaper in foreign markets and imports more expensive in the US.
Highlights of the report showed that the petrol deficit hit a record $15.8 billion in October as the average price of imported crude rose $4.17 - the biggest one-month jump since October 1990 - to a record $41.79 a barrel.
The trade deficit with China widened to a record $16.8 billion in October, inflated by record imports of $19.7 billion.
Separate Federal Reserve figures showed that US industry raised output moderately in November as factories reported brisker activity.
Output from factories, mines and utilities rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% from the previous month, slightly better than Wall Street forecasts. In October, total production had surged 0.6%.
A breakdown showed factories pushed up production by 0.3%, mines lifted output by 2.1%, but utilities cut
output 1.4% during a mild start to the US winter.
