US Budget Deficit Rises to $974B in July

The Treasury Department says the deficit for the first 10 months of the 2012 budget year, which ends Sept. 30, totaled $974 billion. That's 11.5 percent less than the same period last year. A slightly better economy has boosted income tax receipts.

Still, President Obama will almost certainly face re-election after running $1 trillion deficits each year in office. GOP candidate Mitt Romney has criticized Obama for failing to cut the deficit in half, as he pledged to do during his 2008 campaign.

The White House last month forecast that the budget gap will total $1.2 trillion this year, down from $1.3 trillion last year.