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Trump’s First Annual Budget Deficit Rises to a Six-Year High

  • Fiscal gap climbs 17 percent to $779 billion, Treasury says
  • Spending grew 3.2 percent and revenue inched up 0.4 percent
A pedestrian walks near the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C.

A pedestrian walks near the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C.

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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The U.S. budget deficit grew to $779 billion in Donald Trump’s first full fiscal year as president, the highest since 2012 amid tax cuts and spending increases.

The budget gap for the 12 months through September was 17 percent wider than the same 12-month period a year earlier, as spending rose 3.2 percent and revenue gained just 0.4 percent, according to a Treasury Department report released Monday. The deficit as a share of total economic output was 3.9 percent in fiscal 2018, up 0.4 percentage point from the prior year. The government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.