U.S. Trade Deficit Surges Much More Than Expected In March

The U.S. trade deficit spiked by much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

The report said the trade deficit soared to a record high $140.5 billion in March from a revised $123.2 billion in February.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $129.0 billion from the $122.7 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The much bigger than expected trade deficit came as the value of imports surged by 4.4 percent to $419.0 billion, while the value of exports crept up by 0.2 percent to $278.5 billion.