MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US numbers deeper in the red in spite of falling oil prices

The US trade deficit unexpectedly grew in October, despite falling oil prices, according to Commerce Department data released this week. The trade deficit rose to 57.2bn, which was an increase of 1.1% from September's figure.

While there was a record decline in the average cost of a barrel of oil, there was also a record surge in the amount of oil that was imported. US its and exports both fell for the third consecutive month as the downturn hit demand. There were other signs of the downturn in weekly jobless figures from the Labour Department. The number of people making initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 58,000 to a seasonally adjusted 573,000 in the week ending 6 December. It was the highest total since November 1982. And there was more bad news on the US Federal budget deficit, which has ballooned in the first two months of the fiscal year to over 401 billion US dollars compared to 455 billion for the 12 months to October. The budget deficit increased by 164.4 billion in November, boosted by the cost of the financial bail-out and falling tax revenues due to the recession. Some experts suggest that the US budget deficit this year will be over one trillion US dollars and could go even higher if a large stimulus package is passed.