U.S. Trade Deficit Shrinks in March

The U.S. trade deficit shrank by 11% in March as imports fell by the most in four years, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The gap between imports and exports fell to $38.8 billion from an upwardly revised $43.6 billion in February, Commerce said.

The March gap was well below economists’ forecast of a $42.3 billion deficit, Bloomberg News reported.

Imports dropped 2.8% to 223.1 billion, the biggest decline since February 2009, and exports decreased 0.9% to $184.3 billion.