U.S. Trade Deficit Declines in September

The U.S. trade deficit fell 4.4% in September, largely on a sharp drop in the price of oil, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The trade gap fell to $56.5 billion, the smallest in nearly a year, from $59.1 billion in August, Commerce said.

Economists had forecast the deficit would fall to $57 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Exports fell by 6%, the most since September 2001, to $155.4 billion, while imports fell by a record 5.6% to $211.9 billion.