Government's Budget Deficit Surges to $113.9 Billion in FebruaryBy Martin Crutsinger The Associated Press
Published: Mar 10, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government ran a record monthly deficit of $113.9 billion in February, a sizable worsening of the budget picture
compared to a rare surplus recorded in January, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.
<
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBLWG3D56E.html>
:wtf:(Could someone explain this to me? What the HELL is the AP talking about when they said Yesterday in the AP story (at link above), when they said,
"...compared to a rare surplus recorded in January..."?
See today's report from
Reuters and I think you'll see my confusion.)
Trade Gap Widens in Jan. on Import SurgeFri Mar 11, 2005 09:14 AM ET
By Tim Ahmann
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A surge in imports of consumer goods pushed the U.S. trade deficit to a wider-than-expected $58.3 billion in January, the second biggest on record, the government said on Friday.
U.S. exports rose 0.4 percent to a record $100.8 billion, the Commerce Department said. But a 1.9 percent jump in imports, which also hit an all-time high at $159.1 billion, swamped the export gain and led to the biggest trade gap since November's record $59.4 billion shortfall.
Wall Street economists had expected the trade gap to widen slightly to $56.5 billion from December's originally reported $56.4 billion shortfall. December's deficit was revised to $55.7 billion.
The U.S. dollar initially dropped but rebounded, and bond prices slipped on the data. Stock index futures were little changed. Gold prices, which were down earlier, rose to a fresh 2005 high.
(more at link)
<
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=7878346&src=rss/businessNews>