U.S. To Run First Budget Surplus Since 2008: CBO [View all]

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. government recorded a budget surplus of $58 billion in April, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday, breaking a streak of deficits that began in 2008.

The surplus — the first of Barack Obama’s presidency — was the result of both increased tax collection and lower government spending. Before April, the government had not run a surplus since September 2008, the month that the financial crisis struck the U.S. economy.

CBO estimated that receipts were $30 billion higher in April than the same month a year ago, due to declining refunds that month and higher corporate income tax receipts. Spending fell by $69 billion compared to April 2011, marked by lower outlays on defense, Medicaid and the Postal Service.

For the first seven months of the fiscal year, the CBO estimates that the Treasury will notch a deficit of $721 billion. That’s $149 billion less than the red ink reported for the same period in fiscal 2011.


read: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-to-run-first-surplus-since-2008-cbo-2012-05-07?reflink=MW_news_stmp

read CBO report: http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/2012_04_MBR.pdf