Fourth Straight Trillion Dollar Deficit For United States



Deficit 2012 - ChartFor the fourth straight year, the United States has posted a deficit in excess of $1 trillion.

On Friday afternoon, the Treasury Department released the "Final Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government" report for the 2012 fiscal year (ending September 30th, 2012).

For the 2012 fiscal year, the US government posted a deficit of $1.089 trillion. Total receipts were $2.449 trillion, while total outlays were $3.538 trillion.

Receipts were up from $2.302 trillion in the 2011 fiscal year, while outlays were down from $3.599 trillion. The US government posted a total deficit of just under $1.3 trillion in the 2011 fiscal year.

Receipts for the 2012 fiscal year broke down like this:

Individual Income Taxes - $1.13 trillion
Corporation Income Taxes - $242.3 billion
Social Insurance and Retirement Receipts
-Employment and General Retirement (Off-Budget) - $569.5 billion
-Employment and General Retirement (On-Budget) - $205.4 billion
-Unemployment Insurance - $66.6 billion
-Other Retirement - $3.7 billion
Excise Taxes - $79.1 billion
Estate and Gift Taxes - $13.9 billion
Customs Duties - $30.3 billion
Miscellaneous Receipts - $105.9 billion

The US government had eight total outlays that totalled more than $100 billion for the 2012 fiscal year. They were:

Department of Health and Human Services - $848.05 billion
Social Security Administration - $821.1 billion
Department of Defense/Military Programs - $650.87 billion
Department of Treasury
-Interest on Treasury Debt Securities (Gross) - $359.24 billion
-Other - $105.46 billion
Department of Veterans Affairs - $124.1 billion
Department of Agriculture - $139.71 billion
Department of Labor - $104.74 billion

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According to the Treasury Department and White House budget office, the deficit was "$238 billion less than it had forecast in the February budget proposal by the White House".

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This was the 11th straight deficit in the United States and fourth straight trillion dollar plus deficit. The progression from 2002 until now:

2002 - $157.8 billion (deficit)
2003 - $377.6 billion (deficit)
2004 - $413 billion (deficit)
2005 - $318 billion (deficit)
2006 - $248 billion (deficit)
2007 - $161 billion (deficit)
2008 - $459 billion (deficit)
2009 - $1.413 trillion (deficit)
2010 - $1.294 trillion (deficit)
2011 - $1.296 trillion (deficit)
2012 - $1.1 trillion (deficit)

A deficit of over $900 billion is currently being forecast for the 2013 fiscal year.

Source: FMS.Treas.gov - Final Monthly Treasury Statement (*.pdf)

Filed under: General Knowledge

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