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U.S. budget gap hits $1.1 trillion to date


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is running a $1.1 trillion budget deficit to date in the current fiscal year, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday, as lawmakers began to seek extra cuts in public spending to rein in debt.

    The budget deficit, 10 months into the government's fiscal year, was $69 billion lower than the same period a year earlier, said the Treasury Department.

    "The government continues to run significant deficits, one of the reasons S&P took its rating action," said Thomas Simons, money market economist with Jefferies & Co in New York.

    The U.S. budget deficit is forecast to reach $1.4 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

    In July, the government posted a budget deficit of $129 billion -- the 34th consecutive month of budget shortfalls.

    A special committee of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been charged with finding $1.5 trillion in budget savings over the next decade.

    (Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Neil Stempleman and Andrew Hay)