October budget deficit is $176.3 billion

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. federal deficit reached $176.3 billion in October, pushing the national debt to $12 trillion, Financial Management Services said.

The deficit rose more than economists predicted, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

A year ago, the deficit in October, the first fiscal month of then year, was $155.5 billion. The current month is the largest October deficit on record, the newspaper said.

For the fiscal year, the budget deficit is projected to reach between 11 percent and 12 percent of the gross domestic product, far above the a widely recognized norm for a healthy budget deficit of under 3 percent of the GDP.