U.S. budget deficit for fiscal 2014 lowest since 2008

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. budget deficit "returned to fiscal normalcy" in the year that ended Oct. 1, dropping to its lowest level since before the Great Recession.

The improving economy increased tax revenues, cutting the deficit to $483.35 billion, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday. That was down 29 percent from the deficit at the end of the previous fiscal year and the lowest since 2008.

"This is not only a reduction of the deficit, it's also a return to fiscal normalcy," White House budget director Shaun Donovan said.

The Congressional Budget Office predicted last month that the deficit would be $506 billion.

Officials said the deficit was 2.9 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. That was the smallest percentage since Sept. 30, 2007.

Revenues for the year were $3.021 trillion, up 9 percent from the previous year.

Economists said the recession began at the end of 2007 and officially ended in 2010. The annual deficit rose every year from 2008 to 2010, when it began moving down.