The U.S. trade deficit in goods reached 77.2 billion U.S. dollars in October, up by 1.3 percent from the previous month, the U.S. Department of Commerce has said.

Exports of goods for October were 140.5 billion, 0.8 billion less than September exports, while imports of goods for October were 217.8 billion, 0.2 billion more than September imports, according to an advance report released by the department on Wednesday.

October's trade deficit in goods expanded by 14 percent from the same month last year.

U.S. goods and services deficit widened to a seven-month high in September as imports hit a record high and exports bounced back, the department reported earlier this month.

The goods and services deficit climbed to 54 billion dollars in September from a revised 53.3 billion dollars in August, registering the biggest trade gap since February.

Economists believe the country's long-time trade deficit resulted from its macroeconomic policies, and raising tariffs against imports is not the right way to reduce the deficit, which is likely to increase further because of the planned fiscal stimulus.

A strong U.S. dollar has also contributed to the widening of the trade deficit.