Trade deficit drops 19.1 to 87.1 bln in April
Exports increase 3.5; imports decline 3.4
Trade on track to add to GDP growth in second quarter

WASHINGTON, June 7 Reuters The U.S. trade deficit narrowed by the most in nearly 912 years in April as exports jumped to a record high, putting trade on course to contribute to economic growth this quarter.

The sharp decline reported by the Commerce Department on Tuesday reversed March39;s surge and suggested that trade could be shifting back to a more normal pattern. The deficit widened, hitting successive alltime highs, as the United States39; economy led the recovery from the COVID19 pandemic global downturn.

The lingering pandemic and supply chains dislocations have caused extreme volatility in the trade data.

The deficit has widened on trend over the past two years because the U.S. economy has generally grown faster than most of its major trading partners over that period, said Jay Bryson, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina. We look for trade to make a modest positive contribution to overall GDP growth in the second quarter.

The trade deficit dropped 19.1, the largest decline since December 2012, to 87.1 billion. Data for March was revised to show the trade deficit deteriorating to a record high of 107.7 billion instead of the previously reported 109.8 billion.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade gap shrinking to 89.5 billion. The government also revised trade data going back…