(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. merchandise-trade deficit widened in October as imports reached the highest in more than a year, outpacing a gain in the value of exports.

The shortfall grew to $80.3 billion from $79.4 billion in September, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday. The median estimate by economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a negative balance of $80.4 billion. Imports rose by 2.2% to $206.3 billion, the highest since September 2019, while exports increased 2.8% to $126 billion.

The data show that while outgoing President Donald Trump’s push to rewrite the U.S. relationship with the world was yielding some results before the outbreak, the goal of a narrower trade imbalance will go unrealized after Covid-19 upended supply chains and demand. Both exports and imports have improved since the crisis first hit, but inward-bound shipments are still below pre-pandemic levels.

The report Wednesday also showed retail inventories climbed 0.8% from September, a fourth straight month of gains. Wholesale inventories advanced by 0.9%.

American retailers, who remain reliant on imports, have been restocking inventories depleted by the pandemic ahead of the holiday shopping season.

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