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Economy

Treasury Budget Deficit Shrinks, But Spending Still Rises

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By Chris Lange Published
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The U.S. Treasury Budget for July was announced Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday’s results followed close enough to analysts’ expectations that it should not rock the boat too much in either direction. The Treasury reported a $94.59 billion deficit for the month of July. The consensus estimates from both Bloomberg and from Dow Jones (WSJ) were for a deficit of $96.0 billion in July.

The budget level also fell squarely within the range of economist estimates, which was -$100.0 to -$90.0 billion.

We are now ten months into Uncle Sam’s 2014 fiscal year. It might look like good news that the deficit is down 24% from 2013 so far, at -$460.5 billion versus -$607.4 billion. Total receipts have come in up 8% to $2.469 trillion, while total spending is up 1% to $2.93 trillion. Despite the good news, spending has still grown.

The 10-year historical average for July was not far off from predicting what the Treasury released today — at a deficit of $93.7 billion which was only 1% off. The July budget level from the previous year was reported as a $97.6 billion. However, over the past 5 years this average climbs to $128.5 billion.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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