The federal government reported a deficit for the second month of fiscal 1994, spending $38.4 billion more than it collected in November, the Treasury Department said Tuesday.
Treasury said its expenditures totaled $121.5 billion last month, while posting revenues of $83.1 billion.The November deficit follows a deficit of $45.4 billion in October. For the year to date, the government is running a deficit of $83.8 billion.
James Padinha, an economist with First Interstate Bancorp. in Los Angeles, said the November deficit was slightly better than the bank had predicted, but he was more concerned with trends for the year rather than the monthly number.
At this pace, fiscal 1994 "won't be as good as fiscal 1993," Padinha said.
For the year, the Clinton administration is predicting a deficit of $259.4 billion. This follows a fiscal 1993 deficit of $254.7 billion and a record deficit in 1992 of $290.2 billion.
Last month, the government's single largest source of revenues was individual income taxes, which drew in $37.6 billion.
Corporate income taxes drew in another $2.2 billion. Social Security drew in $31.5 billion.
The largest expense by Washington was $22.6 billion for Social Security payments, while the Defense Department spent $21.8 billion. Interest on the national debt equaled $22.3 billion or 18 percent of the total monthly outlays.