Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor | Jun 08, 2012 1:41PM EDT
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed by 4.9 percent in April as imports declined more than exports, partly because of slippage in U.S.-Europe trade.
The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services decreased to $50.06 billion from an upwardly revised $52.62 billion in March, the Commerce Department said. All major subcategories of imports declined, with capital goods accounting for almost half of the total loss.
Exports declined 0.8 percent to $182.91 billion, while imports fell 1.7 percent to $232.7 billion.
U.S. exports to the eurozone region declined 9.8 percent, while imports fell 11.2 percent. The overall trade gap with eurozone nations shrank 14.1 percent to $7.56 billion.
U.S. containerized imports in April declined 2 percent to 1,372,851 20-foot equivalent units. Volume was down 2 percent from Europe and from Northeast Asia, which generates about three-fifths of U.S. containerized exports. Shipments were up 1 percent from Southeast Asia and 25 percent from the Caribbean region.
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