⁍ The US budget deficit surged to a record-breaking $864 billion in June.

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⁍ The increase is the product of the federal government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

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⁍ The deficit last year was $984 billion.

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– The federal budget deficit surged to a record $864 billion in June, the Treasury Department said Monday. The increase is the product of the federal government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout, the Washington Post reports. The government collected about $240 billion in tax revenue in June, the Treasury said, and federal spending overall reached $1.1 trillion. In contrast, the deficit—or the gap between what the government collects in tax revenues and ultimately spends—in June 2019 was only $8 billion. The budget deficit last year was $984 billion. Congress and President Trump in March authorized the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which poured cash into every corner of the economy. It implemented a $600 weekly federal supplement to state unemployment benefits and sent a wave of onetime $1,200 stimulus payments to Americans earning below $75,000 a year.