The United States trade deficit narrowed in October to its lowest level since early this year, the government reported Friday, with exports to China hitting a high. The Commerce Department said the trade gap was $38.7 billion in October, the smallest since January, when it was $34.8 billion. Imports declined 0.5 percent, to $197.4 billion, while exports rose 3.2 percent, to $158.7 billion, the highest level in more than a year. Economists had forecast a deficit of $43.8 billion in October. The latest trade figures, including the smaller-than-expected deficit, could contribute to revisions to estimates for fourth-quarter economic growth in the United States. 'Today's report on the narrowing of the trade deficit is good news all the way around,' Steven Blitz, a senior economist for ITG Investment Research, said. 'Building a recovery around export growth and the capital investment needed to bolster that sector is necessary for the U.S. economy to have a well-balanced and sustainable growth path.' The trade deficit for September was revised to $44.6 billion, from $44 billion. The October report suggested an 'upside risk' to fourth-quarter estimates of 2.5 percent annualized growth in real gross domestic product, Goldman Sachs economists said. The report would add 0.5 percent to fourth-quarter growth if sustained, Steven Ricchiuto, the chief economist for Mizuho Securities, said. The increase in American exports in October reflected a rise in sales of a variety of goods abroad, mostly industrial supplies and materials; food, feed and beverages; and automotive vehicles, parts and engines, the department reported on Friday. Exports swelled to record highs with two important U.S. trading partners. U.S. exports to Mexico, including natural gas, fuel oil and soybeans, hit a high in October of $15.4 billion, but the deficit with Mexico was virtually unchanged at $5.8 billion, the figures showed. And exports to China, primarily soybeans, reached $9.3 billion in October, the highest on record and shrinking the trade deficit with that Asian country to $25.5 billion in October, from $27.8 billion in September. 'The United States is always looking to balance the consumer goods that we import from Asia with commodities that we can export to them,' Blitz said. The value of total soybean exports has been climbing over the years, reaching $16.9 billion in 2009 from $6.6 billion in 2005, government figures show. 