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.
Higher tax revenue also contributed to the smaller deficit. Individual withholding and payroll taxes were up 10% to $138 billion compared to May of 2010. That increase came in spite of the temporary reduction in payroll withholding agreed between Congress and the president earlier this year. Non-withheld tax payments were unchanged at $7 billion over the year. Corporate taxes were also unchanged at $9 billion.
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 forecast of $59 billion for the May deficit earlier this week.
For FY 2011 to date, the federal deficit is $927.4 billion, 0.9% below the $935.6 billion at the same point in FY 2010. Individual withholding taxes are up 5% and non-withheld taxes up 18%. Corporate tax revenue is down 10% from the same period in FY 2010.
Interest payments on the federal debt came to $31 billion this May, up 30% from last year.
