WASHINGTON – The federal government posted a $57.6 billion federal deficit for May, down $78 billion or 58% from the $135.9 billion deficit in May 2010. Receipts are up 19% from last May, spending down 18%.
In April the deficit was a revised $40.4 billion.
The primary factor in the smaller May deficit was a $45 billion downward re-estimate of net spending by the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had a median forecast of $130 billion for the May deficit. However, that was before the Congressional Budget Office released a deficit forecast of $59 billion earlier this week.