The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that U.S. the goods and services trade deficit narrowed to $63.9 billion in September from a revised $67.0 billion in the previous month (originally a gap of $67.1 billion).

Economists had expected a deficit of $63.8 billion.

According to the report, the September decline in the goods and services deficit reflected a drop in the goods deficit of $3.1 billion to $80.7 billion and an increase in the services surplus of less than $0.1 billion to $16.8 billion.

In September, exports of goods and services from the U.S. rose 2.6 percent m-o-m to $176.4 billion, while imports increased 0.5 percent m-o-m to $240.2 billion, in part, due to the impact of COVID-19, as many businesses continued recovery from the sharp declines earlier this year.

Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit jumped 8.6 percent from the same period in 2019. Exports plunged 17.4 percent, while imports tumbled 12.4 percent.