WASHINGTON – The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly fell for a third straight month in November as exports of commercial airplanes and other products hit an all-time high and the bill for foreign oil declined to the lowest level in 16 months.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the deficit fell by 1 percent to $58.2 billion in November, the lowest monthly total since July 2005.

The November improvement came as a surprise. Analysts had forecast a slight increase from October’s deficit of $58.8 billion.

Even with the improvement, the imbalance with China for 2006 climbed to $213.5 billion, surpassing the 2005 12-month total of $202 billion, the previous record deficit for a single country.

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