WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. imports fell by a record 5.6 percent in September and exports suffered their steepest drop since September 2001, narrowing the monthly trade deficit slightly more than expected, a U.S. Commerce Department report showed on Thursday.
A record drop in imported oil prices and the lowest auto and auto parts imports since February 2004 helped trim the monthly trade gap to $56.5 billion, slightly below the consensus estimate of $57 billion made by Wall Street analysts.
The sharp fall in trade is another sign of the toll the global financial crisis is taking on economic growth in the United States and abroad. The monthly goods and services trade gap was the lowest since October 2007. (Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Andrea Ricci)