The federal government recorded a budget deficit of $23.2 billion in December, smaller than a year ago. The December deficit was 15.2 percent lower than the $27.3 billion imbalance in December 2016, the Treasury Department reported Thursday. For the first three months of this budget year, the deficit totals $225 billion, up from a deficit of $209.8 billion for the same period a year ago. Economists at JPMorgan Chase are estimating a budget deficit of $765 billion for the current budget year, which would be 15 percent higher than last year's deficit. It would also be up from the estimate made by the Congressional Budget Office in June for a deficit of $563 billion this year.

Source: ABC News January 11, 2018 19:17 UTC