The U.S. government deficit soared 12 percent to $342 billion in the first two months – October and November – of the 2020 fiscal year, data from the Congressional Budget Office showed.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the U.S. budget deficit will average around $1.2 trillion a year from 2020 to 2029, amounting to between 4.4 and 4.8 percent of gross domestic product.
Revenue rose 3 percent from a year ago to $471 billion in the two months under review, while receipts from individual and payroll taxes climbed 4 percent, or $17 billion.
Receipts from corporate income taxes were up 14 percent, or $1 billion and receipts from other sources, such as excise taxes and customs duties, fell 11 percent, or $5 billion.
The federal deficit was $587 billion when President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. The deficit ballooned to $984 billion in 2019, according to CNBC.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 68: Jamarlin Martin
Jamarlin talks about the recent backlash against LeBron James for not speaking up for Joshua Wong and the violent Hong Kong protestors.
The sudden jump in deficits despite a relatively strong U.S. economy appears to represent a serious political-economic shift and has caused a lot of hand-wringing among federal debt worriers but inspired little action among lawmakers.
“Instead of increasing fiscal stimulus as a response to a broad slowdown in the U.S. economy, the deficit increase appears to be targeting recent softness in the manufacturing sector,” George Pearkes, global macro strategist for Bespoke Investment Group, said in an opinion piece in November.
