The U.S. ran its first yearly high-tech trade deficit.

A deficit had been expected for 1986, but the Commerce Department only recently compiled the figures for a study to be published later this year. The $2.6-billion deficit in high-technology trade in 1986 represents a sharp deterioration from a $3.6-billion surplus in 1985 and a surplus of $18.8 billion as recently as 1983. But the measure includes many items that are not usually considered high tech, such as telephones, alarm clocks, sunglasses, wristwatches and even yarn and thread, while excluding such high-tech items as X-ray machines and CAT scanners.