U.S. Trade Gap Narrows as Ports Backlog Reverberates
Source: The Wall Street Journal.
By Kate Davidson
kate.davidson@wsj.com
@KateDavidson
Updated April 2, 2015 1:37 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The U.S. trade gap in February shrank to its lowest level since October 2009, largely reflecting a hangover from the West Coast ports dispute that left a bottleneck of goods.
The trade deficit narrowed to a seasonally adjusted $35.44 billion in February, the Commerce Department said Thursday. January’s deficit was revised to $42.68 billion from an initially reported $41.75 billion.
Overall, exports decreased 1.6% from January to $186.25 billion, while imports fell 4.4% to $221.69 billion. That was the largest drop in imports since the recession ended in 2009.
Analysts attributed much of the decline to disruptions related to a slowdown at West Coast ports as dockworkers and their employers negotiated a new contract.
Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-trade-gap-narrows-in-february-1427978205