Sinking Dollar Aids Exports, but Trade Gap Grows

The dollar's recent weakness is helping boost the sale of U.S. goods abroad, but it isn't yet narrowing the nation's trade deficit.

While exports of goods and services rose by a seasonally adjusted $3.7 billion in September, higher fuel prices and strong demand for imported autos more than offset the gain, pushing the trade deficit to its widest point since January and highlighting a dilemma for policy makers: As the economic recession winds down, the trade deficit is quickly expanding.