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US budget deficit hits record $3 trillion through 11 months

Andrew Harnik/AP

FILE - In this April 29, 2020 file photo, a man wearing a mask to protect against coronavirus, waits to cross the street as a digital sign displays groups of people walking above another sign displaying the size of the national debt along an empty K Street in Washington. The U.S. budget deficit hit an all-time high of $3 trillion for the first 11 months of this budget year, the Treasury Department said Friday, Sept. 11. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

By: The Associated Press

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WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department says that the U.S. budget deficit hit an all-time high of $3 trillion for the first 11 months of this budget year.

The ocean of red ink is a product of the government's massive spending to try to cushion the impact of a coronavirus-fueled recession that has cost millions of jobs.

The deficit from October through August was more than double the previous 11-month record of $1.37 trillion set in 2009.

At that time the government was spending large sums to get out of the Great Recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis.