November Trade Deficit $48.7B, Up From October's $42.1B

WASHINGTON — The U.S. international trade deficit was $48.7 billion in November, a 15.8% increase from the revised $42.1 billion deficit in October, originally reported as $42.2 billion, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

The November deficit was larger than the median $41.3 billion figure estimated by economists polled by Thomson Reuters, and resulted from total exports of $182.6 billion and imports of $231.3 billion.

The 15.8% deficit increase was the largest such spike since the trade deficit grew 16% from February to March 2012.

The November trade deficit was $100 million lower than the same month in 2011. Exports rose $5.8 billion, or 3.3%, from the previous year. Imports were up $5.7 billion, or 2.5%.

Exports were 1% above the previous month's revised level of $180.8 billion, and reflected a $900 million increase in exports of capital goods, the Commerce Department said.

Imports rose 3.8% from the revised October level of $222.9 billion, primarily due to a $4.6 billion jump in imports of consumer goods

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