Federal government runs a $148 billion deficit in August

The federal government ran a nearly $148 billion budget deficit in August, the U.S. Treasury Department reported Thursday. Spending totaled $333 billion while tax receipts came in at $185 billion.

The August deficit follows an almost $98 billion deficit in July. But the latest month’s gap between spending and revenue is substantially lower than the $190 billion deficit the government posted in August 2012.

Year to date through August 2013, with one month remaining in the fiscal year, the United States has run a $755 billion budget deficit. In the first 11 months of the 2012 fiscal year, the U.S. posted a $1.16 trillion deficit. That’s about 54 percent higher than this year’s gap between government outlays and receipts.

Tax receipts so far this fiscal year are up 13 percent to nearly $2.5 trillion while spending is down almost 4 percent to $3.2 trillion compared to the previous year, according to the Treasury Department data.

Taxes on the wealthy increased at the start of 2013 and a 2 percent payroll tax cut on all workers expired at the same time. Meanwhile, the budget sequester has capped spending, at least temporarily.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com