U.S. Budget Deficit Tops $3 Trillion With One Month Left In Fiscal 2020

August budget outlays were $423 billion, compared with $428 billion in August 2019 and $626 billion in July 2020. Labor- related outlays, largely unemployment benefits, fell to $55 billion in August from $110 billion in July after a $600-a-week federal unemployment supplement expired on July 31.

Receipts in August were $223 billion, compared with $228 billion in the year-earlier period. While taxes collected from paycheck withholdings fell by $11 billion from a year earlier, non-withheld tax payments were up $4 billion due to a processing backlog from the delayed July 15 tax deadline, a Treasury official said.

Earnings from the Federal Reserve soared in August by $5 billion compared with a year earlier from earnings on the Fed’s massively expanded bond holdings and lower interest payments on bank reserves.

The Treasury’s interest costs on public debt rose $7 billion in August compared with a year earlier as borrowing expanded massively. But debt costs were $53 billion lower for the first 11 months of 2020 versus a year earlier due to lower interest rates.

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