Oil imports increase US trade gap

The rising cost of importing foreign oil caused the US trade deficit to widen in April to $60.9bn, the biggest for 13 months.

Despite healthy export growth, the difference between US imports and exports jumped 7.8% in April.

Crude oil imports alone increased $4.3bn to $29.3bn over the month, reflecting higher prices for fuel on world markets. The increase wiped out the gains from strong US exports, which grew 3.3%.

Analysts warned that the cost of oil imports could rise further in coming months if crude oil continued to climb.

"This is the most important hurdle on our road to recovery," Gilles Moec, an analyst at Bank of America, told the BBC. "Real issue is oil and the fact that so far, it is not responding to the accumulating signs of a global slowdown," he added.

-BBC