U.S. Trade Deficit Widens Significantly In September

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed a substantial increase in the size of the U.S. trade deficit in the month of September, as imports surged and exports slumped.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $84.4 billion in September from a revised $70.8 billion in August.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to jump to $84.1 billion from the $70.4 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The sharp increase in the size of the trade deficit came as the value of imports spiked by 3.0 percent to $352.3 billion, while the value of exports tumbled by 1.2 percent to $267.9 billion.