The U.S.
Commerce Department informed on Thursday that the U.S. goods and services trade
deficit narrowed by 0.1 per cent to $69.4 billion in March compared to a revised shortfall of $69.5
billion (from $68.9 billion) in February. This marked the first improvement in
trade gap in four months.
Economists had expected
a shortfall of $69.1 billion for March.
According to
the report, the March decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected an advance
in the goods deficit of $0.8 billion to $92.5 billion and a rise in the
services surplus of $0.9 billion to $23.1 billion.
Overall,
exports of goods and services from the U.S. fell by 2.0 per cent m-o-m to $257.6
billion in March, while
imports dropped by 1.6 per cent m-o-m to $327.0 billion.
Year-to-date, the goods and services
deficit declined by 3.2 per cent from the same period in 2023. Exports jumped
by 1.2 per cent, while imports climbed by 1.6 per cent.