WASHINGTON — The federal government ran a $147.9 billion deficit in August, the Treasury reported Thursday.
The deficit followed a $97.6 billion deficit in July and was lower than the median $152 billion deficit projected for August by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
A Treasury official said that the deficit was related to the fact that there are no major tax due dates in August. For the past 59 years, the federal government has run a deficit in August.
Outlays in August totaled $333.3 billion, compared to $297.6 billion in July. Receipts totaled $185.4 billion in August, compared to $200 billion for the previous month.
In August 2012, the government ran a $190.5 billion deficit.
Fiscal year to date, there was a $755.3 billion deficit, compared to a $1.164 trillion deficit for the same period last year.
Year-over-year changes to August and to fiscal year-to-date results were impacted by timing-related transactions, Treasury said. Taking into account calendar adjustments, the August 2013 deficit would be $107 billion, $26 billion less than the adjusted deficit in August 2012. The adjusted fiscal year to date deficit through August 2013 is $722 billion, compared with an adjusted $1.138 trillion fiscal year to date deficit through August 2012.
