U.S. government posts $33 billion budget deficit in January

The Federal Reserve building is pictured in Washington, DC·Reuters
Reuters
Updated 1-min read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government recorded a $33 billion (£25 billion) budget deficit in January, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

That compared to a budget surplus of $9 billion in the same month a year earlier, according to the Treasury's monthly budget statement.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an $11.5 billion deficit for last month.

Unadjusted receipts last month totalled $372 billion, up 10% from January 2019, while unadjusted outlays were $405 billion, a jump of 22% from the same month a year earlier.

When adjusted for calendar effects, the deficit for January was $200 million compared with an adjusted deficit of $12 billion in January of last year.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Paul Simao)