Record Imports Widen Trade Deficit

The trade deficit widened dramatically at the beginning of the year, climbing to $10.27 billion as imports hit an all-time high and aircraft sales abroad sank to the lowest level in 18 years.

Private economists said that weakening economies overseas and a pickup in U.S. demand could spell larger deficits for several more months and many reduced their economic growth forecasts.

The administration sought to blame temporary factors such as January’s bad weather and the fallout from a strike at Boeing for the trade deterioration.

The January deficit, the worst in six months, was 47.6 percent higher than December’s $6.96 billion imbalance. The deficits with Japan, China and Mexico all worsened.

“We have seen the best news on trade for a while,” said Bob Dederick, chief economic consultant at Northern Trust Co. in Chicago. “We are being hurt by weaker growth in Europe that is causing businesses there to cut back on their inventories.”