The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on the 4th (local time) that the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services fell 6.2% from the previous month to $79.6 billion (about 104.2 trillion won) in June.
It was the third consecutive month of decline and the lowest level in the past six months since December last year.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also missed analysts’ forecast of $80 billion.
Exports rose 1.7% to $260.8 billion (about 341.3 trillion won), a record high, which is believed to have helped improve the trade deficit.
Imports also amounted to 340.4 billion dollars (about 445.6 trillion won), down 0.3% from the previous record high in May.
The trade deficit with China, a politically sensitive indicator, was $36.9 billion (about 48.3 trillion won), up $4.7 billion from the previous month.
A sharp reduction in the trade deficit could help improve US gross domestic product (GDP) figures.
The trade deficit, which lowered the overall GDP by 3.2 percentage points in the first quarter, improved significantly in the second quarter, and it is analyzed that it had a ‘plus effect’ on the growth rate.
/yunhap news