Official figures show that the US trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in February while producer prices excluding volatile food and energy were unchanged in March.
The February trade gap fell to $58.4 billion, slightly lower than economists had expected. Crude oil imports fell sharply to the smallest in four years and average imported oil prices were the lowest since December 2005, according to the Commerce Department.
The department also lowered its estimate of the January trade gap to $58.9 billion, from its previous estimate of $59.1 billion.
Meanwhile, a Labor Department report showed that rising energy prices boosted overall producer prices in March by a bigger than expected 1%. But analysts focused on the core rate, excluding food and energy, which was flat during March.
A breakdown of the trade figures showed that the petroleum deficit was the smallest since June 2005, as crude oil import volume fell 21% to its lowest since February 2003 and prices dipped to $50.71 per barrel, from $52.23 in January.
Overall imports fell 1.7% in February to $182.4 billion, led by the drop in petroleum and aided by other categories. Imports from China fell 10 percent to $23.1 billion, the lowest since May 2006.
Overall US exports retreated 2.2% to $124 billion after rising steadily in the six prior months. Exports of US consumer goods slipped from the record set in January, but were still were the second highest on record.
