In January, the trade deficit of the United States grew in the wake of the increase in oil imports even if, excluding the energy component, there are encouraging signs for the American economy.
The figure was up about 17% to $44,45 billion from the previous month's (revised) result of $38,14 billion. This was communicated by the US Department of Commerce, underlining that this is a number higher than the expectations of analysts, who expected a more contained increase to 43 billion.
In general, imports grew by 1,8% to 228,90 billion dollars while exports – a crucial point of the Obama administration's strategy – fell by 1,2% to 184,45 billion dollars, in the wake of the decline in international demand for crude oil. The United States, on the other hand, exported more cars, machinery and foodstuffs.
In particular, exports to neighboring Canada and Mexico grew while they fell for China and Europe – two of the country's major trading partners. The trade deficit expansion comes after December recorded the largest contraction in four years.
