Empty containers are stacked at the Port Newark Container Terminal near New York City in Newark, New Jersey in this picture taken July 2, 2009.
The U.S. trade gap narrowed unexpectedly in August as services trade pushed exports slightly higher and imports fell by a fractionally larger amount, a U.S. Commerce Department report showed on Friday.
The monthly deficit was $30.7 billion, down 3.6 percent from a revised estimate of $31.9 billion for July. That reflected a 0.2 percent increase in exports to the highest since December and a 0.6 percent decline for imports.
Analysts surveyed before the report had expected imports to get more of a boost from a combination of higher oil prices and U.S. businesses rebuilding their inventories, and increase the August trade gap to around $33 billion.
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