UK trade deficit widens unexpectedly in January

Official UK data show that Britain’s trade deficit has widened more than expected in January, rising to nearly 10 billion pounds.

The Office for National Statistics presented the data on Friday, showing the goods trade deficit was 9.793 billion pounds (USD 16.5 billion) in January, compared to 7.662 billion pounds (USD 12.6 billion) registered in the previous month.

The increase came as a surprise given that a Reuters poll of economists had predicted a deficit shortfall of 8.6 billion pounds.

One of the contributing factors to the widening deficit was a decline in British exports, which fell by four percent to 24.248 billion pounds, making it the lowest level since June 2012.

Finance minister George Osborne has said he plans to present measures to help British exporters and encourage investment later in the month when he announces an annual budget.

The deficit data came just weeks after the statistics office revealed that Britain’s unemployment rate increased unexpectedly to 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, meaning over 2.3 million Britons were without work.

The fourth quarter increase marked the first escalation in the jobless rate since February 2013.