Washington, Nov 5 (IANS): The US trade deficit hit a record high of $80.9 billion in September as American exports fell sharply, the US Commerce Department has reported.

US exports fell by 3 per cent to $207.6 billion in September while imports rose by 0.6 per cent to $288.5 billion. The goods and services deficit rose by 11.2 per cent from a revised $72.8 billion in October, according to the department on Thursday.

"Solid domestic demand has caused import growth to outpace exports for the better part of the past year. The deficit has widened in eight of the past 12 months as a result," Tim Quinlan and Shannon Seery, Economists at Wells Fargo Securities, said on Thursday in an analysis, adding net exports have been a drag on US gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the past five consecutive quarters, Xinhua news agency reported.

"With US consumption slowly rebalancing back toward services spending, imports should eventually slow and provide some relief at our nation's largest ports. But, we're likely some ways away from a meaningful reprieve," the Economists said.

The US economy grew at an annual rate of 2 per cent in the third quarter amid the Delta variant-fueled Covid-19 surge after expanding 6.7 per cent in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported last week.