There was mixed news for the US economy this afternoon from two sets of figures.
The US trade gap in June widened to $53.1 billion, the biggest since 2008, according to official figures
But Labor Department data showed that new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a four-month low last week.
The claims figures were a rare dose of good news for an economy that has been battered by a credit rating downgrade and falling share prices.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 395,000, the lowest level since early April. Economists had expected claims to be unchanged from the previous week.
The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday that economic growth was considerably weaker than expected and unemployment would fall only gradually. The US central bank promised to keep interest rates near zero until at least mid-2013.
The continued improvement in the labour market could help to allay fears of a new recession, which have been stoked by the economy's anaemic growth pace in the first half of the year. The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of trends, slipped 3,250 to 405,000. Economists say both initial claims and the four-week average need to drop close to 350,000 to signal a sustainable improvement in the labour market.
US imports and exports drop in June
The US trade gap widened in June to its largest since October 2008, as both US imports and exports declined in a sign of slowing global demand.
The June trade deficit leapt to $53.1 billion, surprising analysts who expected it to narrow to $48 billion from an upwardly revised estimate of $50.8 billion in May.
Overall US imports fell by almost 1%, despite a rise in the value of crude oil imports to the highest since August 2008. Higher volume pushed the oil import bill higher, as the average price for imported oil fell to $106 per barrel after rising in each of the eight previous months.
US exports fell for a second consecutive month to $170.9 billion, as shipments to Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Central America, France, China and Japan all declined.
