The federal budget deficit last month was $284 billion, the highest for any October, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.
The prior record was set in October 2009, when the deficit was $176 billion.
The lion’s share of the current deficit stems from federal spending, which was 21% higher than in October 2019.
Much of the spending was due to the federal response to the coronavirus. For example, the Labor Department, which is responsible for providing unemployment relief, spent $26 billion more in October of 2020 than it did in the same month last year.
Meanwhile, revenue stayed fairly consistent. Total receipts were only 3% off from last October. A contributing factor to this was that gross corporate tax receipts were 38% higher last month when compared to October 2019.
Still, income and payroll tax receipts took a hit last month. They were off by 7% because unemployment was much higher last month, 6.9%, compared to 3.6% a year ago.
