US trade deficit declined in September to the lowest level in seven months

The US trade deficit declined by 15 percent in September to $ 40.8 billion against the forecasts for a more moderate decline of $ 48 billion to $ 42.7 billion. 

Exports increased by 1.6% to $ 187.9 billion, after the previous month reached a three-year minimum. At the same time imports decreased by 1.8 percent to a seven-month minimum of $ 228.7 billion, mainly due to lower costs for oil and manufactured abroad consumer goods such as mobile phones.

Despite the improvement in September, however, for the first nine months of the year exports remained 3.8% below the volume for the same period of 2014, while export companies are hampered by weaker demand overseas markets as well as from higher exchange rates of the dollar.

U.S. producers are facing export headwinds amid economic weakness in a number of major export markets. U.S. exports have also been hurt by the rising value of the dollar, which makes American goods more expensive on foreign markets.

The U.S. economy slowed to growth of just 1.5 percent in the July-September quarter, but analysts are looking for a rebound to around 2.5 percent in the current October-December period.

The Obama administration is preparing to unveil the text of a trade agreement it reached last month with Japan and nine other Pacific Rim nations, the next step in the administration's effort to win congressional approval for the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.