U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows Slightly More Than Expected In August

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed significantly in the month of August amid a steep drop in the value of imports.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit shrank to $59.6 billion in August from a revised $78.2 billion in July.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to decrease to $61.0 billion from the $78.3 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The narrower trade deficit came as the value of imports plunged by 5.1 percent to $340.4 billion, while the value of exports crept up by 0.1 percent to $280.8 billion.