U.S. Budget Deficit Tops $1 Trillion for First Time

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Uncle Sam’s checkbook is seriously out of whack. With still three months to go in the current fiscal year, the federal government has already hit the trillion-dollar deficit mark for the first time ever in a yearly budget. According to figures released by the Department of the Treasury, the budget was $1.1 trillion in the hole as of the end of June, which was a particularly bad month that deepened the fiscal hole.

 
Ordinarily, the Treasury runs a surplus in June, like last year when it was $33.5 billion in the black. But for June 2009, spending totaled $309.7 billion, while revenue came in at $215.4 billion, leaving the month $94.3 billion in the red. This was the first time June recorded a deficit since 1991.
 
By the time the fiscal year closes in September, the budget deficit is expected to reach $1.84 trillion. That’s $6,000 over budget for the year for each American citizen. For those keeping score, the largest annual budget deficit prior to now was $454.8 billion, which occurred in 2008.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
 
U.S. Budget Gap Exceeds $1 Trillion for Fiscal Year (by Vincent Del Giudice, Bloomberg)
Meltdown 101: How Did $1 Trillion Deficit Happen? (by Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press)
Uncle Sam is $1 Trillion in the Hole (by Catherine Clifford, CNN Money)

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