U.S. Trade Gap Widened in August, Commerce Says

he U.S. trade deficit widened to $59 billion in August as crude oil prices caused imports to rise, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The gap was the third-largest on record and followed a $58 billion deficit in July, the Commerce Department said.

Both imports and exports in August were at all-time highs and the trade gap with China widened to a record, Bloomberg reported.

But economists said high fuel costs and an expanding economy will cause imports to rise faster than exports in coming months and keep the trade deficit wide, Bloomberg reported.