
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 18, 1991                   TAG: 9104180513
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

TRADE DEFICIT DOWN SHARPLY IN FEBRUARY

The U.S. merchandise trade deficit, helped by falling oil prices, narrowed sharply in February to $5.33 billion, the smallest imbalance in more than seven years, the government said today.

The Commerce Department said the deficit shrank by 25.5 percent from a January imbalance of $7.16 billion.

The big improvement reflected a 6.4 percent drop in imports to a seasonally adjusted level of $38.84 billion. Exports fell by 2.4 percent, but at $33.50 billion still remained close to all-time highs set in recent months. The trade deficit is the difference between imports and exports.

The big February trade improvement pushed the deficit to its lowest level since a $5.2 billion imbalance in September 1983.

- Associated Press

by CNB