Official figures show that the US trade deficit widened unexpectedly in December to $40.2 billion, fuelled by the highest oil prices and oil imports since October 2008.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $36 billion from $36.4 billion in November. The 10.4% jump in the trade gap came as both US exports and imports showed healthy gains for the month.
The Commerce Department said exports rose 3.3% to $142.7 billion, the biggest percentage increase since March 2007.
For the year, the US trade deficit totalled $380.7 billion, down sharply from $695.9 billion in 2008, after a year in which the global financial crisis took a heavy toll on trade.
The politically sensitive US trade deficit with China fell in December to $18.1 billion and totalled $226.8 billion for the year, down from a record $268 billion in 2008. US exports to China in December were a record $8.4 billion.
The trade gap with China is by far the largest the United States has with any country and symbolises what many US politicians believe are China's unfair trade practices.
