WASHINGTON – Companies are buying more foreign-made semiconductors and cars as they invest in equipment and build stockpiles while keeping a tight rein on payrolls, reports show.

The trade deficit widened 8.8 percent to $46.3 billion in August, as a rise in imports swamped gains in exports, according to figures from the Commerce Department.

The number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly climbed by 13,000 to 462,000 last week, according to the Labor Department. That was the first increase in three weeks.

Jobless claims had been drifting downward since mid-August, when they hit a high point for the year of 504,000.

Still, weekly applications have fallen by only 8,000 since January and have been stuck near 450,000 all year.

Economists at Morgan Stanley cut their forecast for third-quarter growth based on the increase in imports from countries such as China.

The prospect that unemployment will hold above 9 percent through next year and a lack of inflation are among reasons that Federal Reserve policy-makers may ease monetary policy.

“Companies are importing goods to increase their efficiency, and ultimately that means there is not going to be as much need for labor,” said Edward Kashmarek, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Minneapolis.

Another Labor Department report Thursday showed wholesale prices for goods other than food and energy rose 0.1 percent in September for a second month, a pace that signals inflation is restrained. Overall, producer costs climbed 0.4 percent, propelled by a 1.2 percent advance in the cost of food.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.