1.   As a result, the trade surplus shrank last year for the first time in five years.

2.   As a result, the surplus shrinks, or the deficit increases, both from declining revenues and increasing costs.

3.   As the surplus shrinks, trade tensions are likely to dissipate as well.

4.   A senior ministry official said the government expects the overall trade surplus to shrink more as oil prices rise.

5.   If that assumption proves wrong, the budget surpluses will shrink dramatically, even if the economy keeps growing.

6.   Instead, the nation is barely skirting a recession, stock prices have fallen, the budget surplus is shrinking and the new economy is losing its charm.

7.   It was the fifth decline in the last six months, suggesting that the troublesome trade surplus is shrinking.

8.   Next Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office is due to weigh in with its estimate of how much the record surplus has shrunk.

9.   Republicans, while acknowledging that the surplus shrank unexpectedly fast, said the tax cut was doing precisely what it was intended to do.

10.   That surplus will shrink over the year as the yen falls because of the so-called J-curve effect, Soros said.