April deficit of $82.7 billion sets record for month

The federal budget deficit hit an all-time high for April as the government kept spending to aid the recovery while revenue fell sharply.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday the April deficit soared to $82.7 billion. That was significantly higher than last year's April deficit of $20 billion and the largest imbalance for that month on record.

About a third of the increase resulted from benefits for May that were paid on the last day in April, analysts note. That was because May 1 fell on a Saturday.

The government normally runs surpluses in April as millions of taxpayers file their income tax returns. However, income tax payments were down this April, reflecting the impact of the recession that has pushed millions of people out of work.

Total revenues for April were down 7.9 percent from a year ago.

The Obama administration forecast in February that the deficit for this year will hit an all-time high of $1.56 trillion, surpassing the current record $1.4 trillion set last year.