(Adds government reaction, paras 9-11)
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Canada unexpectedly posted its first trade deficit in almost 33 years in December on plunging exports and weakness in the crucial U.S. market, prompting analysts to predict the days of regular multibillion-dollar surpluses were over for the time being.
Statistics Canada said on Wednesday that the December deficit was C$460 million ($370 million) in December, the first deficit since the C$79 million recorded in March 1976. Analysts had on average predicted a surplus of around C$800 million after the C$1.16 billion surplus in November.
The figures demonstrate just how seriously the global crisis is hurting Canada, a leading commodity producer that relies very heavily on trade with the United States. They also reflect the impact of lower energy prices.
"Canadian trade deficits may well now be a semi-permanent feature on the landscape, at least until the U.S. economy pulls out of its deep dive," said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
"Simply put, Canada's trade position has feasted for decades on a backdrop of ravenous U.S. demand. With that appetite now on the strictest diet imaginable, our trade outlook has withered accordingly."
Immediately after the trade data was released, the Canadian
dollar
"This is a stunningly weak report. It shows the head winds on Canadian trade are much more ferocious than initially thought and suggests downside to the pace of Canadian economic growth," said Charmaine Buskas, a strategist at TD Securities.
Exports plunged by 9.7 percent to C$35.30 billion -- the fastest month-on-month decrease since the 14.2 percent recorded in October 1982 -- on the falling value of energy products and industrial goods.
Imports dropped by 5.7 percent to C$35.76 billion on lower volumes of machinery, automotive products and industrial goods. Exports to the United States -- which takes around 75 percent of all Canada's exports -- dropped by 10 percent.
The dire data is likely to put more pressure on the minority Conservative government, which opposition parties say is not doing enough to tackle the crisis.
"It's predictable when we're in a worldwide downturn ... and some of our major purchasers -- the United States, China -- are going through very difficult times and therefore they're buying less," Trade Minister Stockwell Day told reporters.
"We are concerned that we have seen a reduction in exports," he said, declining to predict whether Canada would now see a string of trade deficits.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the deficit was partly due to past strength of the Canadian dollar, but that recent weakness in the currency should help the situation.
"It has a lot to do with the currency," he said. "The dollar has adjusted. It will make a difference going forward."
($1=$1.25 Canadian) (Additional reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Peter Galloway)