Budget Gap Shrinks 24% So Far in Fiscal Year on Faster Growth

The U.S. budget deficit so far this fiscal year is 24 percent narrower than it was a year ago as a stronger economy helps revenue advance almost seven times faster than spending, a government report showed.

The $460.5 billion shortfall from October through July compared with a $607.4 billion gap in the same period a year earlier, the Treasury Department said today in Washington. Last month the government posted a $94.6 billion deficit, $3 billion less than the imbalance in July 2013, figures also showed.