Economics
U.S. Budget Deficit Widened 61% in Quarter on Covid-19 Spending
- October-December gap of $572.9 billion is record for period
- Unemployment insurance drives outlays as revenue slips
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The U.S. federal budget deficit continued to balloon at the end of last year on spending to cushion the pandemic’s economic fallout, with the incoming Biden administration preparing to deploy more government funds.
The gap was $572.9 billion in the October-December period, a record for the fiscal year’s first quarter and up 61% from a year earlier, according to a Treasury Department report Wednesday. December’s $143.6 billion deficit, also a record for that month, compared with $13.3 billion during the same month in 2019.