Weak dollar helps bring 2007 deficit lower. December shortfall of $58.8 billion is narrower than expected.
The gap between the nation's imports and exports narrowed in December, according to a government report Thursday, leaving the gap for the year sharply lower and ending a five-year streak of record annual trade deficits.
The December gap came in at $58.8 billion, down from $63.1 billion in November. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast the gap would narrow to $61.5 billion.
A weak dollar during the year lifted exports, which allowed the 2007 trade gap to narrow by 6.2% to $711.6 billion, even as imports continued to increase due to the record price for oil imports during the year.
The average price of a barrel of imported oil hit a record $82.76 during the month, up 3.9% from November and 53.7% from year-earlier levels. The December spike in prices brought the full-year average price for oil imports to $64.27 a barrel, up 10.8% from 2006.
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