Japan logs record trade deficit for November

Japan’s goods trade deficit grew to 1,292.9 billion yen in November, a record for the month, as the yen’s slide and expanding demand for energy continued pushing up fossil fuel import costs, more than offsetting a rise in exports, the government said Wednesday. A Finance Ministry official said that the trade deficit, up 35.1% from a year earlier, was the third largest for any month since comparable data became available in January 1979, and marks a record 17th straight month of red ink, The cumulative deficit since January topped 10 trillion yen, already surpassing the previous annual record of around 6.9 trillion yen posted in 2012, the official said.