U.S. Trade Deficit Soars to All-Time High [View All]

[AP]

U.S. Trade Deficit Soars to All-Time High of $60.3 Billion in Nov., Reflecting Record Import Levels

Wednesday January 12, 10:55 am ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's trade deficit soared to an all-time high of $60.3 billion in November, reflecting record levels for imports of everything from oil and consumer goods to farm products, the government reported Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said the November deficit was up 7.7 percent from an imbalance of $56 billion in October, which had been the previous monthly record. The new record caught private economists by surprise. They had been forecasting a slight narrowing in the November trade gap.

"This caught a lot of us by surprise. We had been anticipating a pull back in the November deficit because of a decline in the price of oil," said Jason Schenker, an economist at Wachovia Bank in Charlotte, N.C.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050112/economy_9.html

This is despite the weekest dollar in years. I guess in the drive to destroy US labor, we shipped all our factories overseas. We just don't make anything anymore.