Record monthly deficit for U.S.: $221 billion

The United States dropped a record $220.9 billion further into the red in February, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.
The shortfall was up from the previous record $193.9 billion shortfall in February last year.Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! Email Print Comment on this storyIt's the 17th straight month that the U.S. government has posted deficits.
The last time the government posted a monthly surplus was in September 2008, when the government decreased the deficit by $45.7 billion.The cumulative deficit for fiscal 2010, which started in October, reached $651.6 billion, up from $589.8 billion inside the identical period the year before. The Obama administration is forecasting that the deficit will hit $1.56 trillion this year.Spending increases overshadow income enhance: Wednesday's announcement came as little surprise to economists, who expected the deficit for February to total $222 billion, according to a consensus compiled by Briefing.com.Receipts totaled $107.5 billion, up from $87 billion in February last year and outlays totaled $328.four billion, up from $281 billion.Despite the government's record losses, the year-over-year enhance in revenue in the course of February is at least one hopeful sign that the economy is faring greater, said Robert Bixby, executive director for the Concord Coalition,Beats studio Yellow, a federal spending budget watchdog group. It was the first time because April 2008 that the government posted higher income when comparing monthly information year-over-year.The overall losses had been most likely driven by the recession and tax refunds, mentioned Nathan Topper, an associate economist with Moody's Economy.
com.February is traditionally a big deficit month for the government, as Uncle Sam starts writing tax refund checks, he said. And since the recession dampens business profits and wages, refunds spike. There had been $65 billion in tax refunds recorded in February this year, compared with $77 billion last year and an typical of $49 billion for last decade,Beats By Dre studio Kobe Bryant, based on Moody's Economy.
com.0:00 /5:34Debt chairmen: 'Everything's on the table'Spending up: The government shelled out $65 billion to Well being and Human Services, $62 billion in Social Security expenditures and $48.9 billion for the Department of Defense in February.
Spending is up in all those departments for the initial five months from the government's fiscal year,cheap bose earphones,announced earlier Tuesday, over the exact same period last year.Corporate income tax refunds were greater than usual as a result of legislation that makes it possible for them to apply current losses against prior profits to turn into eligle for refunds.
In February, the President Obama signed into a law a record $1.9 trillion increase to the government's debt limit,and congregations., bringing the new cap to about $14.3 trillion.