US Trade Deficit Shrinking- American Oil Production Up
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Energy Independence
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Date: September 29, 2014 12:49PM
The U.S. trade deficit shrank unexpectedly in June as American oil production helped to wean the economy off foreign imports.
The trade gap narrowed by 7% to $41.5 billion from May’s $44.7 billion, according to a Commerce Department release. The drop was better than the expansion to $44.8 billion that economists had predicted, according to Bloomberg data.
The drop was driven by fewer foreign imports of such items as autos, cellular phones — and oil.
Imports of petroleum were $27.4 billion, the lowest since November 2010. That helped to drive down the U.S. trade deficit in fuel to $14.7 billion, the smallest since May 2009.