US trade deficit falls sharply in June

The US trade deficit shrank by an unexpectedly large margin in June as imports fell and exports grew, according to data released Tuesday. The trade gap fell to $34.2 billion in June, down from a revised $44.1 billion in May, according to the US Commerce Department. Analysts had expected a deficit of $43.4 billion, according to Briefing.com. The United States exported $191.2 billion in goods and services in June and had imports of $225.4 billion. June's imports came in at $5.8 billion lower than May and exports were $4.1 billion higher. Large export gains over May came in industrial supplies and materials ($1.5 billion) and capital goods ($1.5 billion). Meanwhile, imports of industrial supplies and materials fell $2.5 billion and consumer goods imports lost $1.6 billion. For the first six months of the year, the total US trade deficit was $242.1 billion, compared to $278.2 billion for January-June 2012. Underpinning that improvement was a 2.1 percent rise in exports to $1.12 trillion, and a 1.0 percent fall in imports to $1.37 trillion.