$107 Billion Surplus Slightly Lower Than Expectations

The United States posted a $106.853 billion surplus in April, slightly below analyst expectations of roughly $114 billion.

April is only one of the strongest months of the year for the country from a fiscal standpoint due to many Americans settling their tax bills. The US federal government brought in $414.237 billion in tax receipts in April, up roughly $7.5 billion from April of 2013. Outlays for the month of April were $307.383 billion, up about $13.5 billion from April of 2013.

Here are the results for the 2014 fiscal year so far:

October 2013 - $90.584 billion deficit
November 2013 - $135.226 billion deficit
December 2013 - $53.220 billion deficit
January 2014 - $10.25 billion deficit
February 2014 - $193.532 billion deficit
March 2014 - $36.893 billion deficit
April 2014 - $106.853 billion surplus

The Congressional Budget Office believes that the United States will post a deficit of $492 billion for the 2014 fiscal year, which would be substantially lower than 2013’s deficit of $680 billion. The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that the country’s deficits will start to dramatically increase once again in just a couple of years.

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The nation’s shrinking deficit has put the subject of the country’s long-term finances mainly on the back burner for the time being. As a matter of fact, the Republicans agreed to push the issue back until after the mid-term elections by agreeing to suspend the existing debt limit through March 15th, 2015.

The financial state of the nation, however, is a festering issue that will raise its ugly head once again soon enough.

Source: Historical Surpluses and Deficits in the United States

Filed under: General Knowledge