The US trade deficit widened again in July as imports rose as the economy gathered momentum. The deficit widened by 0.7pc to USD40.32bn in July, the Commerce Department said. Economists had forecast that the deficit would widen to USD40.4bn. Imports surged 1.6pc in July from June to USD126.5 billion, the highest level since September 2000 and the second highest on record. The increase was led by imports of industrial supplies and consumer goods. Exports rose by 2pc to USD86.1bn, the highest level since May 2001.
For the first seven months of the year, the trade deficit totalled USD285.5bn, up 25pc from the same period last year. In other economic news, the Labor Department said today that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week rose by 3,000 to 422,000, the highest in two months. Economists had forecast a drop to 400,000, which is considered the dividing line between job market expansion and contraction. //www.fxcentre.com