The Commerce Department said the August trade
deficit in goods and services was 6.9 percent higher than a $50.5 billion
imbalance in July. A small 0.1 percent rise in exports was dwarfed by a 2.5
percent jump in imports.
For the year, America's trade deficit is running at a record annual rate of
$590 billion, 19 percent higher than the previous record, last year's $496.5
billion imbalance.
Imports climbed 2.5 percent to a record $150.1 billion in August, reflecting
a 12.2 percent jump in petroleum shipments, which rose to a record $15.6 billion
last month.
U.S. exports edged up 0.1 percent to $96 billion in August following an even
larger 3 percent gain in July. Economists are hoping that an improving global
economy will lift sales of American goods overseas. Sales of American cars and
auto parts did hit a record, rising to $7.8 billion in August.
The U.S. trade performance has become an issue in the presidential race with
Democratic challenger John Kerry charging that President Bush has not done
enough to protect American workers from unfair trade practices from low wage
countries such as China.
In Wednesday night's final debate, Kerry criticized Bush for failing to
pursue an unfair trade practice complaint against China on the grounds that it
has rigged its currency system to keep the yuan undervalued by as much as 40
percent against the U.S. dollar, giving Chinese products a huge competitive
advantage against American goods.
In a second economic report, the Labor Department said the number of
Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 last week
to a seasonally adjusted level of 352,000. The four-week moving average of
claims, which smooths out weekly changes, rose by 4,000 to a seven-month high of
352,000.
The report on jobless claims reflects a labor market that is continuing to
confound economists' expectations. The country added a lower-than-expected
96,000 jobs in September as the unemployment rate held steady at 5.4 percent.
In August, the trade deficit with China climbed to a record $18.1 billion,
pushed higher by a surge in demand for cell phones, toys and games, televisions
and VCRs, reflecting efforts by U.S. retailers to stock their shelves in advance
of the holiday shopping season.
The administration accuses Kerry of being an "economic isolationist" and
argues that its policy of pushing to open foreign markets by negotiating
free-trade agreements with other nations represents the best approach to keeping
America competitive in a global economy.
However, the nation has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs over the past
four years and some sectors vulnerable to foreign trade such as textiles have
been particulary hard hit.
A coalition of textile groups asked the administration on Tuesday to limit
imports of textiles from China , timing the filing of its case to force the
administration to make a preliminary ruling by Nov. 1, the day before the
election.
The nation's total foreign oil bill was driven higher in
August by increased volume and higher prices. The average price for crude oil
jumped to a 23-year high of $36.37 per barrel, up by $3.09 per barrel from July.
Imported oil is likely to climb even higher in coming months reflecting rising
oil prices that are now at record levels above $50 per barrel.
