Britain's trade gap jumped in January

LONDON, March 13 (UPI) -- Britain's Office for National Statistics said the national trade deficit for January came to $2.8 billion, a sharp increase over December.

The deficit jumped from December's trade gap of $1.8 billion, ONS said.

The deficit in goods trading rose from $11.2 billion in December to $11.7 billion in February. The surplus in services fell from $9.4 billion in December to $9 billion in January, the data office said.

Excluding oil, the volume of exports rose 2.2 percent, while the volume of imports rose 1.8 percent

Price shifts for goods favored imports. Export prices rose 0.8 percent, while import prices rose 0.9 percent in the month, ONS said.