WASHINGTON — The federal government ran a $17.5 billion budget deficit in January, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.
The January deficit followed a $1.9 billion surplus in December.
Outlays in January totaled $324.3 billion, compared to $333.5 billion in December. Receipts totaled $306.7 billion in January, compared to $335.3 billion for the previous month.
In January 2014, the government ran a $10.3 billion deficit. A Treasury official said that 39 of the last 61 Januarys have had deficits.
Fiscal year to date, there was a $194.2 billion deficit, compared to a $183 billion deficit for the same period last year. The federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Year-over-year changes to January and year-to-date results were impacted by timing-related transactions, Treasury said. Taking into account calendar adjustments, January 2015 would have had an $11 billion surplus, $3 billion more than the adjusted surplus in January 2014. The fiscal-year-to-date deficit through January 2015 would have been $155 billion, $8 billion more than the adjusted deficit through January 2014.
