US federal budget deficit rises sharply in November, partly because of calendar

The federal budget deficit for November was up sharply compared with a year ago, but much of the increase was blamed on a quirk of the calendar.

The Treasury Department reported Wednesday that the budget deficit for November totaled $98.2 billion (euro66.92 billion), a record for the month. That was up 34.5 percent from a deficit of $73 billion (euro49.74 billion) set in November 2006.

However, government analysts noted that much of the increase reflected the fact that because Dec. 1 fell on a Saturday this year, about $17 billion (euro11.58 billion) in benefit payments were made early, shifting the impact into November.

The deficit for the first …