Ahead Of The Bell: Trade Deficit

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit likely increased slightly in April, reflecting rising world crude oil prices.

Wall Street expects the trade deficit to edge up to $29 billion in April, according to the consensus of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. The trade deficit widened to $27.6 billion in March from $26.1 billion in February, which had been the smallest gap in nine years.

Through the first three months of this year, the trade deficit was running at an annual rate of $359.7 billion, down significantly from last year's $681.1 billion.

The Commerce Department is scheduled to release the April trade report at 8:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

Economists believe the deficit this year will be sharply lower, reflecting a recession in the U.S. which has crimped demand for imports.

Imports have been falling at a faster pace that U.S. exports, which also have been hurt by the economic hard times as the downturn that began here spread to many of America's major trading partners.