U.S. trade deficit narrows slightly

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. trade deficit dropped slightly August to September, helped largely by smaller deficits with oil exporters and Europe.

Among major trading partners, the trade gap with China rose from $28.7 billion to $29.1 billion. But the trade bap with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries dropped by $1 billion, falling from $8.1 billion to $7.1 billion and the deficit with the European Union dropped by $3.1 billion, as it dropped from $11.7 billion to $8.6 billion.

Overall, the trade gap fell from a downwardly revised $43.8 billion in August to $41.5 billion in September, as both the goods deficit shrank and the services surplus rose, the Commerce Department said.

The goods deficit dropped by $1.4 billion to $57.5 billion, while the services surplus gained $800 million to $15.9 billion. The combination pushed the overall trade deficit down from a downwardly revised August deficit of $43.8 billion to $41.5 billion.

The gain in exports also exceeded the gain in imports. Exports in September rose by $5.6 billion to $187 billion, while imports rose by $3.4 billion to 228.5 billion.

As for other trading partners, the deficit with Germany fell from $5.7 billion to $5.2 billion. The deficit in trading with Japan dropped from $6.7 billion to $4.8 billion.