Trade gap is down for second month in a row

WASHINGTON — For the first time in more than two years, the U.S. trade deficit has declined for two months in a row. The main reasons: record U.S. exports and a big drop in the country’s foreign oil bill.

The trade gap narrowed to $62 billion in March, the smallest deficit in seven months, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

It was down from a $65.6 billion imbalance in February and an all-time high of $68.6 billion in January.

It marked the first consecutive monthly improvements in the deficit since October-November 2003 and offered hope that the country’s trade deficits, which have set records for four straight years, may be on the verge of improving.

But private economists, who had expected the March deficit would rise to $67 billion, cautioned that the change will not come overnight. They said the monthly deficit numbers were likely to worsen again in coming months, reflecting the recent surge in oil prices, before steady improvements start at the end of this year.

“Oil prices are likely to remain high and move up during the summer. But after that, we may see some sustained declines in the trade deficit,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight, a private forecasting firm.

Wall Street suffered through a second straight day of steep losses as investors were rattled by a big plunge in consumer confidence and rising import prices, reflecting higher oil costs.