Europeans are crying all over the place.
March trade deficit drops by bigger-than-expected amount - Yahoo! News
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer 51 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in March as demand for imports fell by the largest amount since the last recession was ending.
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The Commerce Department reported Friday that the deficit totaled $58.2 billion, down 5.6 percent from February, a larger improvement than had been expected.
The smaller deficit reflected spreading weakness in the U.S. economy, which cut demand for imports by 2.9 percent, the largest one-month decline since December 2001, one month after the last recession ended.
The decline, which pushed imports down to $206.7 billion, was led by a 5.9 percent decrease in America's foreign oil bill. The amount of petroleum fell as the average price for crude oil jumped to an all-time high. Imports of autos and a wide variety of other consumer goods from furniture to toys and clothing also fell