The US trade deficit ballooned to a record 26.5 billion dollars in November, fueled by surging imports of foreign cars and consumer goods and the highest oil prices in nearly three years, the Commerce Department reported on January.

The trade deficit had been setting new records month after month in 1999. The report said that November's deficit in trade in goods and services was up 3.7 percent from the October imbalance of 25.6 billion dollars.

The report showed that imports shot up 1.4 percent to a record 109.4 billion dollars in November, reflecting robust US demand for foreign cars, business equipment, consumer goods ranging from clothing to household appliances and a rising oil import bill.

Meanwhile, exports rose a brisk 0.7 percent to a record 82.9 billion dollars as demand for US products from overseas economies picked up after being severely depressed from the Asian financial crisis. Sales of telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, TV sets and VCRs, and industrial supplies all increased, the report said.

Through the first 11 months of 1999, the US trade deficit was running at an annual rate of 266.8 billion dollars, far surpassing last year's record deficit of 164.3 billion dollars.

The trade imbalance is the one blot on an otherwise superior economic performance that has pushed the US unemployment rate down to a 30-year low of 4.1 percent.

November's report reflected record imports from key US markets, specifically Canada and Western Europe. The trade gap with Canada soared to 3.25 billion dollars, up from 2.94 billion dollars in October. Imports from Western Europe also rose to a record 19.96 billion dollars in November. The deficit with Germany jumped by 29.4 percent to a record 3 billion dollars as imports from that country rose to an all-time high.

However, the report showed that the US deficit with China narrowed by 9.2 percent to 6.5 billion dollars. The politically sensitive deficit with Japan also narrowed by 11.3 percent to 6.4 billion dollars in November.

The US foreign oil bill increased 0.9 percent to 7 billion dollars in November as crude oil prices hit their highest level since January 1997.