Slowly, the US Budget Improves

I want to be very cautious on this topic, but the US budget deficit is improving. Obviously, it’s far from good, but it’s much better than it was. The deficit is now at a seven-year low.

The U.S. reported a $52 billion surplus in June, a month in which the government in recent decades has typically generated a surplus on account of corporate and individual taxes collected at month’s end.

The monthly surplus brought the budget deficit over the past 12 months to $431 billion, down nearly 20% from a year earlier. It represents the second lowest 12-month deficit since August 2008.

The budget picture has improved this year amid higher revenues and better economic growth, even though federal spending has also ticked higher. Revenue for the 12-month period ended June is nearly 9% over the year-earlier level, while spending is up 4%.

Since the start of the fiscal year last October, the deficit reached $313 billion in June, down from $366 billion for the year-earlier period.

In March, the CBO projected this year’s deficit at $485 billion. I think they’ll revise that lower soon.

Posted by on July 13th, 2015 at 2:57 pm


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