The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Friday that U.S. the goods and services trade deficit widened to $68.2 billion in January 2021 from a revised $67.0 billion in the previous month (originally a gap of $66.6 billion).

Economists had expected a deficit of $67.5 billion.

According to the report, the January increase in the goods and services reflected an advance in the goods deficit of $1.3 billion to $85.4 billion and a gain in the services surplus of $0.1 billion to $17.2 billion.

In January, exports of goods and services from the U.S. rose 1.0 percent m-o-m to $191.9 billion, while imports went up 1.2 percent m-o-m to $260.2 billion, reflecting both the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the continued economic recovery from the steep declines in 2020.

Year-over-year, the goods and services deficit jumped 53.7 percent from January 2020. Exports fell 7.6 percent, while imports grew 3.2 percent.