2012.10.1109:43:00UTC+00U.S. Trade Deficit Slightly Wider Than Expected In August

With the value of exports falling at a much faster rate than the value of imports, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that the U.S. trade deficit came in slightly wider than expected in the month of August.

The report showed that the trade deficit widened to $44.2 billion in August from a revised $42.5 billion in July. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to $44.0 billion from the $42.0 billion deficit originally reported for the previous month.

While the value of exports dropped by 1 percent to $181.3 billion, the value of imports edged down by 0.1 percent to $225.5 billion.