The US government said Thursday that it ran a slightly smaller deficit in February compared to a year ago but the imbalance through the first five months of the budget year is still running ahead of last year.
According to the Treasury Department, the deficit in February was $192.3 billion, down from a deficit in February 2014 of $192.5 billion. For the first five months of this budget year, the deficit totals $386.5 billion, up 2.7 percent from a deficit of $376.4 billion during the first five months of the 2014 budget year.
For the entire budget year, which ends September 30, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is forecasting a deficit of $486 billion, up 0.6 percent from the 2014 deficit of $483.3 billion. The 2014 deficit was the smallest annual imbalance in six years.