WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly in September but was still running well above last year’s gap, adding urgency to Obama administration calls for other countries to do more to rebalance global growth.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the deficit fell 5.3 percent to $44 billion in September, as imports retreated slightly while exports edged higher, helped by rising sales of American airplanes and industrial machinery. The deficit was at $46.5 billion in August.
But even with the slight improvement in September, the U.S. deficit through the first nine months of this year is 40 percent higher than a year ago. The soaring trade deficits are coming at a time of high unemployment in the United States and have added pressure on Washington to do more to boost U.S. jobs.
“It is striking that despite the weak economic recovery, the trade deficit has all but doubled since the recession ended,” said Paul Dales, U.S. economist at Capital Economics.
For September, U.S. exports of goods and services edged up 0.3 percent to $154.1 billion, the highest level in two years. Imports, which had been surging in recent months, fell by 1 percent to $198.1 billion. The trade deficit is the gap between exports and imports.
The politically sensitive deficit with China, the country with the largest trade imbalance with the United States, dipped slightly to $27.8 billion in September. It had hit a monthly record of $28 billion in August.
Through the first nine months of this year, the trade gap with China is running 21 percent higher than in 2009 and is on track to match the all-time annual record set in 2008.
China reported Wednesday that its trade surplus with the world surged in October to the second- highest level this year.
