Trade Deficit Nosedives Unexpectedly

The weakening dollar has an economic silver lining, Bloomberg reports. The government today said the slumping currency helped boost US exports and unexpectedly narrow the trade deficit in September to its smallest level since May 2005. "Instead of being the drag that it has been for the last 15 years, trade is finally becoming a net positive,'' one economist says.

Most economists had predicted the trade deficit, which dipped to $56.5 billion, would grow. The development is good news for the economy and means analysts will likely revise third-quarter growth estimates upward. Exports, at record levels, rose 1.1% and would have gone higher if not for a drop in commercial aircraft deliveries. (More trade deficit stories.)