Trade Gap Widens in December

The U.S. trade deficit widened in December, increasing 10.4% from November, the Commerce Department.

The gap between imports and exports grew to $40.2 billion, the biggest in a year, from $36.4 billion in November, Commerce said Wednesday.

Economists had forecast the deficit would narrow to $35.8 billion from the previous month's figure, which was not revised, Bloomberg reported.

Imports rose 4.8% to $182.9 billion. Exports rose 3.3% to $142.7 billion, the biggest gain since March 2007.