A U.S. government report says the country's trade deficit rose to an all-time high of $60.3 billion in November.
The Commerce Department says the trade gap grew nearly eight percent from the previous record of $56 billion in October. The department says the unexpected increase reflected record levels for imports of oil and consumer goods, while exports fell.
The trade deficit through November totaled $561 billion, which exceeds the record for all of 2003.
The Associated Press quotes U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow as saying the trade gap reflects the fact that Americans are becoming more prosperous.
Some information for this report provided by Bloomberg, AP and Reuters.
