On the price front, the year-on-year rate of change in the CPI for all items less food and energy has improved to around 0.0 percent, and inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole, considering market indicators and the results of various surveys.
Since the onset of the recent recession and financial crisis, the federal budget deficit has soared as the weak economy has depressed revenues and pushed up expenditures and as necessary policy actions have been taken to help ease the recession and shore up the financial system.