WASHINGTON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. trade deficit declined 5.6 percent to 58.2 billion dollars in March, a larger improvement than analysts had been expecting, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
The better-than-expected showing came as demand for imports in March fell by 2.9 percent, the biggest one-month drop since December 2001, reflecting weakness in the U.S. economy.
The 2.9 percent drop dragged total U.S. imports of goods and services down to 206.7 billion dollars in March. Demand of automotive vehicles, industrial supplies and materials, consumer goods, capital goods and food all declined.
U.S. exports of goods and services, meanwhile, were down 1.7 percent to 148.5 billion dollars, still the second highest on record. Sales of commercial airliners, cars, computers and machinery were all down in March.
For the three months ending in March, the average trade deficit was 59.6 billion dollars, up slightly from the 59.5 gap registered in the three months ending in February.
The U.S. trade deficit in 2007 totaled 708.5 billion dollars, down by 6.5 percent from the record level of 758.5 billion dollars in 2006.
The decline came after U.S. trade imbalance had set new records for five consecutive years.
