Federal deficit to top $1.4 trillion

WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- White House Budget Director Peter Orszag says the federal deficit will exceed $1.4 trillion this year and in 2011, a smaller deficit than previously forecast.

The forecast of a $1.46 trillion dollar deficit in 2010, down from an earlier White House estimate of $1.56 trillion, means 41 cents of every dollar in federal spending will be borrowed, The Washington Post said Friday.

The 2011 deficit forecast was $1.42 trillion, with the deficit falling to $922 billion in 2012, up from $828 billion in the previous report, and slightly more than $700 billion in 2013, which would meet the administration's goal to cut the deficit in half by the end of President Barack Obama's first term.

The Office of Management and Budget's mid-session review also forecast unemployment would remain above pre-2008 levels until 2015, averaging 9 percent in 2011, more than 8 percent in 2012 and moderating to below 6 percent in 2015. June unemployment was 9.5 percent.

The White House boosted its forecast for 2010 economic growth from 2.7 percent to 3.2 percent, 3.6 percent in 2011, down from 3.8 percent, and revised its 2012 estimate from 4.3 percent to 4.2 percent, The Hill reported. Senior White House economist Christina Romer said the 2011 and 2012 growth estimates were in the range forecast by the Federal Reserve's policy-making Open Market Committee.