Trade deficit in the US shrank significantly in October as exports reached an all-time high of $223.6 billion.
This reflected a monthly growth rate of 8.1 percent, according to a report from the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Trade could advance growth for the first time in over a year as the trade deficit slipped to $67.1 billion in October, a 17.6 percent drop compared to the previous month.
The jump in exports was driven by rising shipments of goods, which grew 11.1 percent to hit $158.7 billion.
In particular, exports of industrial supplies and materials jumped $6.4 billion, while sales of capital goods went up by $3.1 billion. In addition, exports of services increased by $1 billion.
This indicated an improvement in the movement of goods and services after downturns caused by the pandemic, according to Reuters.
In a related development, the US is not expected to impose further lockdowns due to the country’s strong vaccination programs, the head of economists at the White House said. It is expected to weather omicron, the new coronavirus variant, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, imports also reached a record high of $290.7 despite expanding by just 0.87 percent from a month earlier.
Imports of goods rose by $1.8 billion while foreign purchases of services experienced an uptick of $0.7 billion.