WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. trade deficit in goods widened sharply in September amid a surge in imports, suggesting that trade remained a drag on economic growth in the third quarter.
The goods trade gap increased 14.9% to $108.2 billion last month also as exports fell, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Tuesday.
That would mark the third straight quarter that trade has subtracted from gross domestic product. The government is scheduled to publish its advance GDP estimate for the July-September quarter on Wednesday.
The economy likely grew at a brisk 3.0% annualized rate last quarter, a Reuters survey of economists showed, matching the second quarter’s pace.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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