2019.03.2708:40:00UTC+00U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows Much More Than Expected In January

Largely reflecting a steep drop in the value of imports, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by much more than anticipated in the month of January.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to $51.1 billion in January from a revised $59.9 billion in December.

Economists had expected the deficit to shrink to $57.0 billion from the $59.8 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The narrower than expected deficit came as the value of imports tumbled by 2.6 percent to $258.5 billion, while the value of exports rose by 0.9 percent to $207.3 billion.