U.S. posts $53 billion budget deficit in May

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government posted a $53 billion budget deficit in May, a 38 percent drop from the same month last year, the Treasury Department said on Friday.

The government had a deficit of $84 billion in May of 2015, according to the Treasury’s monthly budget statement.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a $60 billion deficit for last month.

However, when accounting for calendar adjustments, May would have shown a $102 billion deficit compared with an adjusted $84 billion deficit a year prior.

The current fiscal year-to-date deficit was $407 billion, up 11 percent from a $367 billion deficit at this time last year.

On an adjusted basis, the fiscal year-to-date gap was $413 billion compared with $367 billion at this time last year.

Receipts last month totaled $225 billion, a 6 percent increase from May 2015, while outlays stood at $277 billion, a 7 percent decline from the same month a year ago.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Paul Simao)

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