Flooding in Thailand and a stronger yen also weighed on Asia's second-largest economy, which is still running to catch up from the effects of the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster, a government official said. Exports fell 4.5 percent in the month from a year earlier, increasing the trade deficit to 684.73 billion yen ($8.79 billion), the largest trade loss ever for the month of November, the finance ministry said. Japan's trade surplus with Europe fell to 27.59 billion yen, with exports down 4.6 percent, the lowest figure for the month of November since January 1979 when records began, a finance ministry official said. The smallest trade surplus ever with Europe was 26.8 billion yen posted in January 2009, he added. "Factors behind the latest trade readings are the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and a surging yen, which has forced Japanese manufacturers to move production plants overseas," he said. Japanese exports stood at 5.20 trillion yen in November, down for the second straight month. Electronics, notably computer chips and video equipment were particularly hard hit in the month, the finance ministry said. "It is not a seasonal trend to see such a deficit for this time of the year," said the finance ministry official. "One other factor is the flooding in Thailand, which stopped electronic parts supply to Japan and hindered the export of finished products from here," he said. Imports rose 11.4 percent to 5.88 trillion yen in the month, as a result of higher fuel costs, the finance ministry said. Japan, which is still grappling with the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, has shut down most of its atomic reactors as concerns over the safety of the technology grip the nation. Power companies have instead been forced to ramp up the use -- and therefore the imports to resource-poor Japan -- of fossil fuels to supply the country's electricity-hungry industries and households. The reading for the November trade deficit was worse than the 440 billion yen deficit expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and the Nikkei newspaper. Japan's exports to Asia also tumbled 8.0 percent in November from a year ago, the data showed. In October, the balance of Japan's trade in goods stood at a revised 280.17 billion yen in the red. "At the bottom line is the economic slowdown, especially in Europe... in addition to a high yen," said Taro Saito, senior economist at NLI Research Institute. "Flooding in Thailand came on top of that," he said. "I think the European economy is already in a state of recession, and it will continue to face a very tough time into next year."