Higher Oil Bill, Flood Of Chinese Imports Pushes Trade Deficit Up

Wednesday, December 12th 2007, 7:45 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The U.S. trade deficit rose to the highest level in three months. Record oil prices and a flood of toys and other imports from China swamped another solid gain in American exports.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the deficit for October increased to $57.8 billion, the highest level since July and 1.2 percent above the September imbalance.

The widening deficit was slightly worse than expected and occurred even though U.S. exports of goods and services rose for an eighth consecutive month, climbing 0.9 percent to an all-time high of $141.7 billion. This gain was offset by a 1 percent rise in imports to $199.5 billion, also a record, as a surge in global oil prices sent America's oil bill soaring.