America’s monthly trade deficit worsened dramatically in April, soaring to $8.40 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, delivering a dose of bad economic news that put added pressure on an already shaky dollar.
The April deficit in goods and services was up 22.1 percent from the March imbalance of $6.87 billion as imports of merchandise climbed to an all-time high while American exports were off sharply.
In a second trade report, the government said the deficit on the current account for the January-March quarter was $31.9 billion, the worst showing for this trade measurement since late 1988. The current account is considered the broadest measure of U.S. trade.
Economists said that American manufacturers are being battered by recessions in Europe and Japan, two big export markets, while U.S. consumers and businesses are buying record amounts of imports as the American economy remains strong.
The weakness of the dollar in world currency markets means the Federal Reserve could again boost short-term interest rates soon, said Kevin Flanagan, an economist at Dean Witter Reynolds.
In the April report, U.S. goods exports fell by $1.77 billion, reflecting large declines in the sale of gold, telecommunications equipment and computers.
For the year, the deficit in goods is running at an annual rate of $133.5 billion, putting the United States on track to suffer its worst trade imbalance since a record $152.1 billion imbalance in 1987.
For April, U.S. imports of goods edged up 0.2 percent to a record $53.6 billion. U.S. exports of goods declined 4.2 percent to $40.29 billion in April.
As usual, America’s largest deficit was with Japan, an imbalance of $5.48 billion in April, down slightly from the March figure.
