Deficit in U.S. Narrows to Five-Year Low on Record Revenue
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The U.S. posted its smallest budget deficit in five years as employment gains and higher taxes propelled revenue to a record, while spending fell by the most since the Eisenhower administration.
Outlays exceeded receipts by $680.3 billion in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, the narrowest gap since 2008, compared with a $1.09 trillion shortfall in fiscal 2012, the Treasury Department said today in Washington. In September, the U.S. recorded a $75.1 billion surplus, little changed from the surplus in the same month a year earlier.