Japan posts record trade gap in January

TOKYO, March 8 (UPI) -- Nuclear power shutdowns in Japan contributed to the country posting a record trade deficit in January, data shows.

By shutting down nuclear power plants as a response to the massive earthquake that shook Japan in March 2011, the country has had to turn to petroleum imports to fill its energy needs.

The Financial Times reported Thursday the deficit reached $5.4 billion in January, the largest trade gap since 1985, when the country began collecting comparable data.

"January is prone to trade deficits, and there were magnifying factors this year," Goldman Sachs economist Chiwoong Lee wrote in a note to investors.