WASHINGTON, 14 October 2005 — The US trade deficit increased in August to its third-highest level on record as imported oil costs and imports of Chinese textiles and other goods hit record levels, the government said yesterday. Surging energy prices also stoked imported inflation in September, a separate report showed, prompting the biggest rise in import prices in nearly 15 years.

The Commerce Department said the August trade gap grew 1.8 percent to $59.0 billion, just below economists’ forecasts of $59.5 billion. Record imports of $167.2 billion easily overwhelmed record exports of $108.2 billion.

The dollar rose on the news that the trade gap was not as large as expected, while the import price data tamped down stock gains prompted by upbeat financial results from McDonald’s Corp. Much of the climb in the trade gap was due to oil price gains, partly offset by a surge in civilian aircraft exports.

“Since the order books at Boeing are bulging at the moment, with many of those orders coming from abroad, aircraft exports could continue to be a big positive for the trade deficit for some time to come,” Paul Ashworth, senior international economist at Capital Economics in London, wrote in a report.

The trade report showed oil import prices were a record $52.65 a barrel, lifting crude oil imports to a record $17.2 billion in August. A separate Labor Department report showed energy costs stoking imported inflation. Surging oil and natural gas prices pushed import prices up 2.3 percent in September, the largest jump in nearly 15 years and more than twice expectations.

Petroleum import prices jumped 7.3 percent while nonpetroleum import costs rose by a record 1.2 percent, the Labor Department said. Stripping out petroleum and natural gas, import prices rose a much smaller 0.4 percent.

Kurt Karl, head of economic research and consulting at Swiss Re in New York, said the high oil prices mask an improvement in the underlying trade gap. “We do see some light at the end of the tunnel for a turnaround of the current account deficit, but it won’t show up until we get some petroleum price relief,” Karl said.

“What’s more interesting (than the overall trade gap) is the US-China deficit, especially with what’s going on in Beijing just now,” said Rebecca Patterson, currency strategist with JP Morgan in New York. She said the record level of imports from China will likely raise pressure on the United States to press Beijing for more flexibility in its yuan currency.

Imports from China hit a record $22.4 billion, boosted by a 3.1 percent jump in clothing and textile shipments. Imports of those products in the first eight months of this year are up more than 53 percent from the year-earlier period, following the end of global textile quotas on Jan. 1. A fourth round of talks aimed at stemming the flow of Chinese textiles into the United States collapsed earlier on Thursday.

US Treasury Secretary John Snow is in China for meetings with finance chiefs from the Group of 20 economies. Snow, who is also expected to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao, has been vocal about the need for a looser yuan, which US manufacturers claim is so cheap that it gives Chinese exporters an unfair edge.

The Commerce Department’s trade report showed little initial impact from Hurricane Katrina, which forced the temporary closure of the Port of New Orleans after it hit on Aug. 29. The department will publish preliminary September trade data on Oct. 21 for Gulf ports.

US imports increased 1.8 percent in August as US economic growth continued to outpace that of other developed countries. Key categories such as industrial supplies and materials, autos and auto parts and capital goods all rose. The United States ran record trade shortfalls with China, the European Union, OPEC and South and Central American countries in August.

Another report showed the number of Americans filing new jobless claims dipped 2,000 last week, a smaller fall than expected, in the aftermath of Gulf Coast hurricanes. Initial applications for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 in the week ended Oct. 8 from a revised 391,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.