New White House data show how a huge surge in spending to confront the economic fallout fueled a historic increase in debt.
The U.S. budget deficit eclipsed $3.1 trillion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to government data released Friday, by far the biggest one-year gap in U.S. history.
The data are a stark reflection of the staggering blow that the coronavirus pandemic has dealt to the U.S. economy.
The deficit — the gap between government spending and tax revenue — shows the dramatic surge in spending the U.S. government approved to contain the pandemic’s fallout earlier this year. Continue reading.