The US. trade deficit is expected to rise a touch in December, productivity probably surged and jobless claims likely fell, is what the forecast says. All three reports will be issued at 8:30 a.m. EST. The trade gap is forecast to widen to $36 billion from a four-year low of $34.3 billion in November. The productivity of businesses and workers in the fourth quarter is projected to accelerate to a 3.4% annual rate from 3% in the third quarter. And jobless claims are seeing falling to 337,000 in the seven days ended Feb. 1 from 348,000 in the prior week.