A weaker U.S. dollar and the expansion of emerging economies caused the U.S. trade deficit to narrow in December as exports set another record, Bloomberg reported

The trade gap shrank 6.9 percent to $58.8 billion in December, from $63.1 billion in November, according to the Commerce Department. Exports rose 1.5 percent to a record $144.3 billion, as demand increased for U.S.-made capital equipment and industrial supplies. Meanwhile, imports declined 1.1 percent to $203.1 billion on lessening demand for foreign-made automobiles, consumer goods, food and capital equipment.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted the gap would narrow to $61.5 billion.

The gap between imports and exports also shrank 6.2 percent to $711.6 billion for all of 2007, the biggest decrease since 1991. For the year, exports rose 12 percent to a record $1.622 trillion.

Contributing to the narrowing trade gap in December was a 14 percent decline in purchases from China. However, for the year, the trade deficit with the nation’s second-largest trading partner rose 10 percent to a record $256.3 billion.