Federal Surplus

The U.S. Government recorded a $21 billion surplus in January. That is excluding the budget cuts signed by President Bush in the past few days. I would point out January 15th is when the first estimated tax payments are due, so I am sure that is what contributed to the surplus (there was an $8 billion surplus last January). This also follows a $10 billion surplus in December. April typically has a surplus because of all the tax returns, so hopefully when the budget deficit is re-estimated, it will be substantially lower. Right now for FY2006 (Oct '05-Sept '06) we have a $98 billion deficit. Last year we had a $104 billion deficit at this point. Feburary will tell the tale, as 1/3 of last year's deficit came in Feburary ($113 billion in Feb '05).

Much still remains to be cut in the federal budget and hopefully the GOP will one day start doing something about it. This first round of budget cuts is a good start though.

UPDATE: The current deficit estimate (including the new data) is $423 billion for FY2006.