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WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal deficit, with one month left in the budget year, is running well below last year's record pace, thanks to a surge in tax collections.
In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said Tuesday that the August imbalance came in at $49.98 billion. For the first 11 months of the budget year, the deficit totals $352.6 billion, 19.4 percent below the level of red ink for the same 11 months in 2004.
The government recorded a $24.6 billion surplus in September 2004 that left the total deficit for 2004 at $412.8 billion, a record in dollar terms.
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