The U.S. trade deficit widened unexpectedly in November to a high of $60.3 billion on record levels for imports of everything from oil and consumer goods to farm products, a government report showed on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said the November deficit was up 7.7 percent from an imbalance of $56 billion in October, the previous monthly record. The new record surprised economists, who had been forecasting for it to narrow to $54 billion.

The trade deficit through November totaled $561.3 billion, way beyond the previous annual record of $496.5 billion set in 2003, and put the country on track to record a trade imbalance topping $600 billion when the December figures come in.

*For more on this story,

read the full Reuters article

.