Budget deficit down 17% from year ago

The U.S. budget deficit totaled $356.4 billion in the first two months of the budget year. That was down 17 percent from the same period a year ago due to a sharp jump in government revenues that offset a smaller increase in spending. In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said Friday that the government’s deficit in October and November was $72.9 billion below the deficit in the same two months last year. The government’s budget year starts on Oct. 1.