WASHINGTON — The federal government posted a $134.2 billion deficit for August, which because of special factors was $44 billion or 48% larger than the $90.5 billion gap of August 2010.
August 2010 spending was artificially lowered because the first of the month fell on a weekend. That pushed $28 billion of monthly payments into the July budget.
Economists had forecast a $132.0 billion deficit.
In July, the government ran a $129.4 billion deficit.
Revenues for August were up $5 billion or 3% from a year ago to $169 billion. Outlays for August were $303 billion, up $49 billion or 19% from the artificially suppressed spending of August 2010.
The federal deficit was $1.234 trillion for the first 11 months of fiscal 2011, down $26 billion or 2% from the first 11 months of fiscal 2010.
