U.S. budget deficit up 60.7% in first 3 months of budget year

WASHINGTON » The U.S. government’s deficit in the first three months of the budget year was a recordbreaking $572.9 billion, 60.7% higher than the same period a year ago, as spending to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic pushed outlays up while revenue declined. The Treasury Department reported Wednesday that with three months gone in the budget year, the deficit was $216.3 billion higher than the same October-December period a year ago.

The deficit, the shortfall between what the government collects in taxes and what it spends, reflects an 18.3% jump in outlays to $1.38 trillion, a record for the period, while revenues fell 0.4% to $803.37 billion. The deficit is the difference between revenue collections and outlays. For just the month of December, the deficit totaled a record $143.6 billion. The deficit for the 2020 budget year, which ended Sept. 30, climbed to an all-time high of $3.1 trillion.