Washington, Jumada II 22, 1438, Mar 21, 2017, SPA -- The deficit in the broadest measure of U.S. trade shrank in the final three months of 2016, the government said Tuesday, but the gap for the full year increased to the highest level in eight years. The Commerce Department reported that the deficit in the current account shrank to $112.4 billion in the fourth quarter, a drop of 3.1 percent from the $116 billion deficit in the third quarter. The improvement reflected stronger earnings by American investors on foreign holdings, which offset a rise in the deficit on goods. The current account deficit for all of 2016 climbed 3.9 percent to $481.2 billion, the highest annual figure since 2008. --SPA 18:31 LOCAL TIME 15:31 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w358712