A surge in imports of consumer goods pushed the US trade deficit to a wider-than-expected $58.3 billion in January, the second biggest on record, the government said today.
The news sent the euro to $1.347 on Friday evening, its highest level against the US currency since early January.
The Commerce Department said US exports rose 0.4% to a record $100.8 billion, but a 1.9% jump in imports, which also hit a record at $159.1 billion, swamped the export gain.
Wall Street economists had expected the trade gap to widen slightly to $56.5 billion from December's originally reported $56.4 billion shortfall. December's deficit was revised to $55.7 billion.
Some analysts had expected a rise in oil prices to contribute to a widening in the US trade shortfall, but the department's oil price measure actually slipped to $35.35 a barrel, its slowest level since July, from $36.63 in December.
The oil price drop pulled the overall value of oil imports down, although any relief may be short-lived as benchmark crude prices have recently topped $55 a barrel.
The report signaled a continued strong appetite by US consumers, but could lead economists to scale back forecasts of first-quarter economic growth, since so much of that was being satisfied by foreign goods.
Imports of consumer goods jumped by $2 billion to a record $34.6 billion, the department said. Imports of cars and capital goods were also up sharply, with each posting a gain of slightly more than $500m.
The US trade shortfalls with Canada and the newly industrialised countries of Asia both widened by $1.3 billion, as exports fell off and imports climbed. The gap with China - the country that enjoys the largest trade surplus with the US - grew $1 billion, as exports dropped nearly 20% and imports edged up 1.9%.
