April’s surplus shrank $132 billion, or 43%, from $308 billion a year ago, an all-time high monthly figure reached thanks to massive spending during the COVID-19 period and a solid stock market performance in 2021.
Revenue in April hit $639 billion, the second highest level since the record total of $864 billion in the same month of 2022, but down 26%.
Spending also fell 17% in April to $462 billion, but the calendar-adjusted figure is expected to rise 9% to $535 billion.
The Treasury announced a $925 billion deficit in the first seven months of fiscal 2023, up 157% from the $360 billion deficit in the same period last year.
The US economy grew below expectations in the first quarter of this year, which may prompt the US Federal Reserve to slow the pace of interest rate hikes in the period ahead.
And data from the US Department of Commerce, as of the end of last April, showed growth of 1.1% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to expectations that growth would reach 2%.
The US economy had avoided recession over the past year, but grew weakly in the last quarter of last year, at a rate of 2.6%.
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