US Trade deficit registered lowest level in 17 years

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (KUNA) -- The US trade deficit recorded the lowest level in October since the middle of 2009 during the financial crisis and the great recession, the US Department of Commerce said on Thursday.
With exports rising and imports falling, the trade shortfall was just USD 29.4 billion for October, down 39 percent from the prior month. Exports increased 2.6 percent while imports slipped 3.2 percent, the department added in a report.
The total was the lowest since the second quarter of 2009 as the U.S. was just coming out of the financial crisis and the Great Recession, it pointed out.
The numbers reflect the trade activity since President Donald Trump levied his "liberation day" tariffs in April 2025. Economists and policymakers worried that the levies would work against the U.S. by inviting retaliation and slowing the movement of goods and services around the world. However, Trump has backed off many of the most severe tariff threats he made, and the data shows a strong market for US products.
To be sure, the year-to-date deficit still was 7.7 percent higher than the same period in 2024, it noted.
Indeed, third-quarter productivity rose at a 4.9 percent clip, according to a separate report Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite the weak recruitment, the Department of Labor said that the layoff rate remains low, noting that the initial unemployment claims for the week ending January 3, 2024, totaled 208,000. (end) rsr.hss.hm