U.S. Trade Gap Widened to Second-Biggest on Record in November

Gantry cranes stand above the APM shipping terminal in the Port of Los Angeles in this aerial photograph taken above Los Angeles, California, U.S

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. trade deficit widened to the second-largest on record in November as demand for imports climbed ahead of the holidays.

The gap in trade of goods and services expanded to $68.1 billion in November from $63.1 billion in October, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday. That compares with a median estimate for a gap of $67.3 billion in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Total imports increased 2.9% to $252.3 billion, while exports advanced for a sixth month, climbing 1.2% to $184.2 billion.