U.S. trade deficit narrows in January

U.S. trade gap narrowed in January as both exports and imports declined in the month, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The country's trade deficit fell 8.3 percent to 41.8 billion U. S. dollars in January from the revised 45.6 billion dollars in December. In January, exports dropped 5.6 billion dollars from December to 189.4 billion dollars, and imports fell 9.4 billion dollars to 231.2 billion dollars.

A steep drop in oil prices, a strong dollar, and a labor dispute that disrupted shipping at West Coast ports have all affected the trade figures in January. The trade deficit for petroleum products fell to 10.69 billion dollars in the month from December's 14.6 billion dollars.

The trade deficit with China was 29.3 billion dollars in January, down from 30.4 billion dollars in December. Endite