With imports increasing by more than exports, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing the U.S. trade deficit widened in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said the trade deficit increased to $62.2 billion in December from a revised $61.9 billion in November.
Economists had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $62.2 billion from the $63.2 billion originally reported for the previous month.
The wider trade deficit came as the value of imports shot up by $4.2 billion or 1.3 percent to $320.4 billion, while the value of exports jumped by $3.9 billion or 1.5 percent to $258.2 billion.
Imports of consumer goods, including pharmaceuticals, cell phones and other household goods, led the surge in imports, while imports of industrial supplies and materials also saw a notable increase.
Meanwhile, the report showed a sharp increase in exports of industrial supplies and materials, including nonmonetary gold, crude oil and other petroleum products.
The report also said the goods trade deficit widened to $89.1 billion in December from $88.4 billion in November, while services trade surplus rose to $26.9 billion from $26.5 billion.
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