The U.S. budget deficit widened more than economists forecast last month

From Bloomberg.com

The U.S. budget deficit widened more than economists forecast last month as spending soared and corporate tax receipts shrank, putting the Treasury on course for a record annual shortfall of more than $1 trillion.

The excess of spending over revenue in January rose to $83.8 billion, compared with a $17.8 billion surplus in the same month a year earlier. Spending gained 30.6 percent, while revenue dropped 11.4 percent. Corporate tax revenue in the past four months is down 44.3 percent from a year earlier.

The deficit four months into the 2009 fiscal year already is higher than the record for all of the previous year. A recession now in its second year, rising foreclosures and 13 straight months of job losses are cutting tax receipts. At the same time, the government is pledging hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer funds to arrest the financial crisis.

“We’re experiencing a terribly challenging fiscal environment and a terribly challenging economic and financial crisis,”