The U.S. government posted a budget deficit of $39 billion for January, after a monthly surplus of $119 billion a year earlier, as one-time costs, including revenue cuts and a union pension fund bailout, pushed spending sharply higher. The Finance Department said on Friday. .
The report, which comes as the Treasury employs extraordinary cash management measures to avoid breaching the federal debt ceiling, showed receipts of $447 billion last month, up from January 18, 2022. billion dollars or 4 percent less.
Aside from one-time spending, the budget data showed little change from recent trends of slightly slower revenue growth and rising interest costs on Medicare, Social Security and the public debt.
The Treasury has said its ability to pay off U.S. debt may not last until early June unless Congress raises the $31.4 trillion statutory debt ceiling. Republicans are seeking spending concessions from President Joe Biden, who has said he will not negotiate raising the limit.
U.S. federal spending in January was $486 billion, up $140 billion, or 4 percent, from a year earlier, thanks to Biden’s $36 billion bailout of the Central States Pension Fund to more than 350,000 Teamsters union workers and To prevent cuts in pensions of retirees. It serves.
The January spending comparison was also affected by the non-renewal of last year’s communications spectrum auction, which had the effect of reducing spending by about $70 billion in January 2022.
Social Security spending in January rose $12 billion, or 12 percent, from a year earlier, to $114 billion due to cost-of-living adjustments. Interest on public debt rose $8 billion, or 18 percent, to $51 billion in January.
Individual income and payroll taxes withheld in January rose $11 billion, or 4 percent from a year earlier, to $279 billion. A Treasury official said the impact of lower bonus payments in December and January is expected to fade in the coming months with continued high hiring.
January unrestricted receipts fell $9 billion, or 6%, to $141 billion, reflecting lower capital gains.
The Federal Reserve posted no earnings in January because higher interest paid on bank deposits offset any bond portfolio earnings. That compares with the Fed’s earnings of $10 billion in January 2022, and the Treasury official said the trend of zero earnings is likely to continue for several years.
In the first four months of the fiscal year that began in October, U.S. receipts fell $44 billion, or 3 percent, to $1.473 trillion, while spending rose $157 billion, or 9 percent, to $1.933 trillion in the period. There is a record for