The deficit grew 11 percent to 96.6 billion dollars in May, according to statistics from the US Department of Commerce. The average forecast among analysts was a deficit of 86.1 billion dollars.
Exports in May decreased 5.2 percent to 179.2 billion, while imports were largely unchanged at 275.8 billion.
A second calculation of the US GDP for the first quarter shows at the same time that the country's economy contracted by 0.5 percent during the period January–March. It was a larger decline than the expected 0.2 percent.
