- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
US trade deficit narrows to smallest since late 2020
The US trade deficit narrowed more than anticipated in November on a fall in imports, government figures showed on Thursday, with drops seen in pharmaceuticals and household goods.
The overall trade deficit dropped $16.3 billion to $61.5 billion in November, according to Commerce Department data.
This was the narrowest deficit since September 2020, and a smaller number than analysts expected.
The figure comes as households shift more spending to services instead of goods, with consumers squeezed by stubbornly high inflation.
In particular, imports fell 6.4 percent to $313.4 billion -- with drops seen in pharmaceutical preparations, auto vehicles and parts, along with cell phones and other household items.
Exports slipped two percent to $251.9 billion, data showed, with a slide seen in industrial supplies and materials such as natural gas.
Exports have weakened in recent months as economies worldwide struggle with inflation and higher interest rates, and a stronger US dollar has also made American goods more expensive for foreign consumers.
To combat decades-high inflation, the Federal Reserve also hiked the benchmark lending rate multiple times last year in hopes of cooling demand.
"Looking ahead, trade flows are likely to slow as global and domestic demand weakens in response to tighter monetary policy," said chief US economist Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics.
"However, US exports could see support from a reopening in China eventually, as the economy moves past the current period of disruption from the virus," she added.
The US deficit with China narrowed further to $20.4 billion in November as well on a drop in imports, while year-to-date goods imports from the European Union exceeded those from China, data showed.
With the latest figures, overall trade is expected to support GDP in the final quarter of 2022, said Ryan Sweet of Oxford Economics. Advance estimates for economic growth are due later in January.
But Sweet also cautioned that imports of capital goods made a second straight monthly decline, and this warrants "close watch as business investment is normally the first to weaken ahead of recessions, not consumer spending."
Y.Uduike--CPN