US trade deficit widens slightly in January

U.S. trade deficit edged up slightly in January, as imports marginally outpaced exports, the Commerce Department said on Friday. The deficit of goods and services increased to 39.1 billion U.S. dollars in January, up 0.3 percent from the revised 39 billion dollars in December, the figures showed. Exports increased to 192.5 billion dollars in January from 191. 3 billion dollars in December, while imports rose 0.6 percent to 231.6 billion dollars in January. For goods, the deficit was 59.3 billion dollars, while for services the surplus was 20.2 billion dollars. Rising exports were boosted by non-monetary gold, plastic materials and natural gas, while imports were driven by crude oil, fuel and chemical organic. For the 2013 as a whole, the U.S. trade deficit was revised to 474.9 billion dollars, down 11.2 percent from 2012. The U.S. economy grew 2.4 percent in the last quarter of 2013, of which 1 percentage point was contributed by smaller trade deficit. Analysts expected the deficit will be narrowed further as the country seeks to reduce its dependence on foreign oil imports. The U.S. goods deficit with China increased from 24.5 billion dollars to 27.8 billion dollars. The goods deficit with Mexico decreased from 4.2 billion dollars to 2.8 billion dollars, the lowest since January 2009.