The U.S. trade deficit in June narrowed by 0.3 percent to $64.8 billion in June as oil prices continued to rise, the Commerce Department said.

Economists had expected a $64 billion deficit in the month. May's trade deficit was revised to $65 billion from an estimate of $63.8 billion last month.

The smaller deficit was partly a result of record exports to the European Union and Japan. Exports to the EU totaled a record $19.3 billion, while exports to Japan were $5.4 billion, the highest since March 2001.

The average price of a barrel of crude oil rose by 30 cents to a record $62.04.

Imports in June increased by 1.2 percent to $185.5 billion in June, while exports rose by 2 percent to $120.7 billion.

The trade deficit with China widened 12.3 percent to $19.7 billion, while the trade deficit with Japan widened 0.2 percent to $7 billion.

For the year, the trade deficit is running at a pace of $767.7 billion. That would represent a 7.1 percent increase over last year's $716.7 billion deficit.