The deficit in the broadest measure of U.S. trade swelled to a record US$541.8 billion in 2003, according to a report released by the Commerce Department today.

The report showed that the current account deficit last year was 12.7% bigger than the previous all-time high deficit of US$480.9 billion.

In a separate release, Commerce said U.S., businesses boosted stockpiles of supplies in January by 0.1%. Businesses’ sales, meanwhile, went up by 0.4%.

The increase in inventories in January wasn’t as large as the 0.3% rise some economists had expected.