The U.S. government said Monday that it ran a budget surplus in June, leaving the budget deficit so far this year under last year's level. The Treasury Department reported that the surplus in June totaled $51.8 billion, compared to a surplus of $70.5 billion a year ago. But the larger 2014 monthly surplus was heavily influenced by a timing quirk that had moved June benefits payments into May last year because June 1 fell on a Saturday. For the current budget year, the government is running a deficit of $313.4 billion, a 14.3 percent reduction from the imbalance run up during the first nine months of the previous budget year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is forecasting that the deficit for the entire budget year will be $486 billion, about the same as last year.
