CNBC: Budget Deficit Rose in December And is Now 40% Higher Than it Was a Year Ago
Article by Jeff Cox in CNBC
The federal budget sank further into red ink during December, leaving the first fiscal quarter deficit nearly 40% higher than it was the prior year.
For the final calendar month of 2024, the shortfall totaled $86.7 billion, which actually represented a 33% decline for the same period a year prior, according to a Treasury Department report Tuesday. However, that brought the three-month fiscal year total to $710.9 billion, some $200 billion more than the comparable period in the prior year, or 39.4%.
Rising financing costs along with continued spending growth and declining tax receipts have combined to send deficits spiraling, pushing the .....