WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit made a sharp and unexpected pullback in October, reaching its lowest level since 2009 as goods imports dropped while President Donald Trump's tariffs took hold, government data showed Thursday. The overall trade gap plunged 39 percent to $29.4 billion in October, said the Department of Commerce, as imports dropped by 3.2 percent. The deficit was significantly smaller than a $58.4 billion median forecast from surveys of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. The release of the trade data was delayed by more than a month due to a lengthy government shutdown last year, depriving officials and companies of updated figures as they assess the health of the world's biggest economy. While U.S. exports rose by $7.8 billion in October to $302.0 billion, imports dropped by $11.0 billion to $331.4 billion. This was largely due to a tumble in goods imports, with consumer goods declining $14.0 billion. Within the category, pharmaceutical preparations fell sharply, the Commerce Department said. Imports of industrial supplies and materials like