The federal budget deficit hit an all-time high for the month of April, reports Martin Crutsinger of The Associated Press.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday the April deficit soared to $82.7 billion, the largest imbalance for that month on record, according to the wire service.

That was significantly higher than last year's April deficit of $20 billion and above the $30 billion deficit private economists had anticipated, Crutsinger notes.

More from The Associated Press:

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 a severe recession which has pushed millions of people out of work.

Revenues for April were down 7.9 percent from a year ago, dipping to $245.3 billion.

That decline included a fall in individual income tax payments. That reflected not only the impact of millions of people out of work but also tax relief provided through the economic stimulus program that Congress passed in February 2009.

The back-to-back deficits in April marked a first, according to monthly budget records that go back to 1954. During that period, the government has run April surpluses in 43 of 56 years.

Through the first seven months of the current budget year, which began on Oct. 1, the deficit totals $799.7 billion, down only slightly from last year's deficit during the same period of $802.3 billion.

The Obama administration is forecasting that the deficit for this year will hit an all-time high of $1.56 trillion, surpassing the current record of $1.4 trillion set last year. However, many private economists believe this year's imbalance will be closer to the $1.4 trillion set last year.