US budget deficit nearly doubles in December from year ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. federal government’s budget deficit rose from a year earlier for the second straight month, the latest sign of a rising financing gap.
The Treasury Department said Thursday that the December budget deficit was $27.5 billion, nearly double the $14 billion in December 2015. In the first three months of the government’s budget year, the deficit is slightly below last year’s total. But adjusting for calendar quirks that moved some large benefit paym