Australia Has A$5.085 Billion Trade Surplus

(RTTNews) - Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$5.085 billion in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

That was shy of expectations for A$6.560 billion and was down from the downwardly revised A$6.792 billion in November (originally A$7.079 billion)

Exports were up 1.1 percent on month to A$44.027 billion, driven by metal ores and minerals; exports rose 4.8 percent in the previous month.

Imports jumped 5.9 percent on month to A$38.942 billion, driven by capital goods; imports were up 1.7 percent a month earlier.