Budget office estimates US deficit just under $1 trillion

The U.S. government ran a budget deficit of just under $1 trillion in the just-closed fiscal year.

That’s according to the latest, almost official estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.

Last year’s deficit ran $779 billion, but this year’s came in at $984 billion, more than $200 billion higher despite very low unemployment and continuing economic growth.

Many mainstream economists have long taken the position that deficits and the nation’s $22 trillion national debt are unsustainable. CBO notes that deficits have been growing faster than the size of the economy for four years in a row, ending 2019 at 4.7 percent of gross domestic product.

But there’s no appetite in Washington to try politically painful medicine to deal with the deficit.

The Treasury Department will release final deficit figures mid-month.