Dados EUA: Trade gap soars to record

[notiCIas]

Trade gap soars to record

Higher oil prices, gasoline imports, lower exports in September send deficit far beyond forecasts.

November 10, 2005: 8:53 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The U.S. trade deficit soared to record levels in September, according to a government report that showed higher oil prices, gasoline imports and a fall in exports caused the gap to widen far more than forecasts.

The Commerce Department report put the trade gap at $66.1 billion, up from $59.3 billion in August. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that the gap would rise to $61.3 billion. The previous record gap was $60.4 billion set in February.

A number of factors came together to cause the spike in the gap in September, some of which are likely to moderate in coming reports. The average price of crude oil imports shot up nearly nine percent after Hurricane Katrina to a record $57.32, although the volume of oil imports fell by 11.6 percent due to refineries that were shut following that storm and Hurricane Rita later in the month. But imports of higher-priced energy products, including gasoline and natural gas, increased by $2.2 billion compared to August.

In addition, a four-week strike at Boeing Co., the nation's largest exporter, caused a $2.4 billion drop in the exports of civilian aircraft, while food and organic chemical exports fell by $780 million compared to August. Many of those exports normally leave through the Port of New Orleans, which was closed following Katrina.