ECONOMY : Trade Deficit Stabilizes

After deteriorating through the spring and summer, the U.S. trade deficit stabilized in October despite the largest gap with Japan in nearly seven years. The difference between what Americans sold overseas and what they purchased from abroad narrowed by 1.6% to $10.5 billion, the Commerce Department said. The modest improvement came even though the deficit with Japan jumped 14% to $6.1 billion, the largest since November, 1986. Overall in October, a 3.2% increase in exports to a record $40.1 billion outweighed a 2.1% rise in imports to $50.6 billion, also a record. Meanwhile, a separate report from the Labor Department says that 7,000 fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week than the week before.