WASHINGTON (AFP) — The weak dollar failed to improve the US trade picture as the deficit rose to 62.3 billion dollars in February from 59 billion a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The report showed a bulging trade deficit worse than the 57.4 billion dollars expected by Wall Street analysts and marking the biggest since last November.

The rise in the deficit comes from a jump in imports which was stronger than the increase in exports.

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In one bright spot, the politically sensitive deficit with China fell 9.6 percent to 18.4 billion dollars, the lowest since March 2007.

The petroleum deficit meanwhile fell to 32.5 billion dollars after eight months of increases even though the average price of oil rose.

Still, the report highlights the problems of Washington in trying to reduce its deficit with the rest of the world despite a sagging dollar, which tends to boost exports.

Rishi Sondhi, an economist at RBC Financial Group, said the larger deficit is not as bad as it appears on first glance and that it may not result in a further drag on economic growth.

"Although the trade deficit widened in nominal terms, the real (chained 2000 dollars) goods deficit narrowed in the first two months of the year compared to the fourth quarter," Sondhi said.

"This is consistent with our base-case forecast, which sees US net trade contributing 0.5 percentage points to growth over the entire year."

But the economist said it remains unclear if the higher deficit is a result of weakening economies overseas, reducing demand for US goods.

"The risks to this projection are to the downside if global growth should slow more than we currently expect," Sondhi said.

Robert Brusca at FAO Economics said the trade figures represent "a conundrum" and may be a fluke in monthly tallies. Normally higher imports reflect a stronger economy, while exports should gain more on the low dollar, he said.

The figures "really do not make sense. The deficit is higher on still solid export growth but surging imports," he said.

"Oil prices are up about one percent on the month but oil import volumes are off by about five percent. Non-oil imports are up 5.4 percent yet consumption and investment are weak."

Brusca added: "Right now we can't solve this puzzle. But the best guess is that the economy is not picking up as strong imports might suggest. Consumption has not mysteriously spiked."

The deficit rose even with countries whose currencies have been rising against the dollar, including France, Germany, Japan and Canada.

The report showed exports rose 3.0 billion dollars to 151.4 billion while imports surged by 6.3 billion dollars to 213.7 billion.

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