Washington, Jumada II 08, 1437, March 17, 2016, SPA -- The deficit in the U.S. current account-the broadest measure of trade-fell slightly in the fourth quarter of 2015, but for the whole year, it jumped to the highest level in seven years, the government reported Thursday. The deficit in the current account-which includes investment flows as well as goods and services-narrowed to $125.3 billion in the October-December period, down 3.6 percent from a $129.9 billion deficit in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said. For all of 2015, the current-account deficit rose to $484.1 billion, up 24.3 percent from the 2014 imbalance of $389.5 billion. It was the biggest annual deficit since 2008, when it totaled $690.8 billion. Last year, the deficit in merchandise rose 2.4 percent. Exports of goods plunged 7.2 percent, the first annual decline since 2009, when the global economy was struggling to emerge from a deep recession. The 2015 current-account deficit was equal to 2.7 percent of total U.S. economic output, up from 2.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014. The rising trade deficit cut overall GDP growth by 0.6 percentage point in 2015, a significant reduction for an economy that grew a modest 2.4 percent last year. The deterioration in the current account reflected the struggles of U.S. companies amid weak growth overseas and a stronger U.S. dollar. Analysts say trade will limit growth again this year as manufacturers and other exporters including farmers continue to struggle to sell their products abroad. Trade deficits have become a major topic in this year’s presidential race, with Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders both arguing that the country has been hurt by the failure of the U.S. government to negotiate trade deals that protect jobs from being lost to other countries engaged in unfair trading practices. --SPA 22:20 LOCAL TIME 19:20 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w