Wall Street Journal (01/26/15) Nick Timiraos
Current budget restraints, stronger economic growth, and other factors will reduce the federal deficit into 2017, before the deficit begins to widen again in 2018, according to the Congressional Budget Office. CBO finds that the budget deficit for the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30 will reach $468 billion, slightly less than the deficit recorded in 2014 and significantly lower than 2013.
The unemployment rate is expected to drop to 5.5% at the end of this year, and inflation will remain at less than 2.0% for the next few years, CBO says.