US trade deficit widens to 40.2 billion dollars

The US trade deficit widened sharply in December to 40.2 billion dollars, capping a year that saw a massive drop in the trade gap, government data showed Wednesday.

The Commerce Department reported total US exports of goods and services of 142.7 billion dollars and total imports of 182.9 billion dollars.

The trade gap mushroomed to 40.2 billion dollars after a revised 36.4 billion dollars in November.

For the full year, the US trade imbalance with the rest of the world improved impressively.

The 2009 trade gap amounted to 380.7 billion dollars, a decline of 45 percent from 2008, the official data showed.

In December, US exports rose 4.6 billion dollars from the prior month, while imports were up 8.4 billion dollars.

The goods deficit led the widening of the trade deficit, rising 3.4 billion from November to 51.8 billion dollars. The services surplus slipped 0.4 billion dollars to 11.7 billion dollars.

Exports of goods rose to 99.1 billion dollars, an increase of 4.6 billion dollars from November. Goods imports climbed a hefty 8.1 billion dollars to 150.9 billion dollars.

Exports of services were "virtually unchanged" at 43.6 billion dollars, and imports of services increased 0.3 billion dollars to 31.9 billion dollars, the department said.