An employee of a money changer holds a stack of U.S. Dollar notes before giving it to a customer in Jakarta, October 8, 2015. REUTERS/Beawiharta

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. federal government posted a budget deficit of $14 billion in December, compared with a surplus of $2 billion in the same month a year earlier, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

The current fiscal year-to-date deficit stood at $216 billion, according to the Treasury’s monthly budget statement. Receipts last month totaled $350 billion, while outlays were at $364 billion.

Accounting for calendar adjustments, December would have shown a surplus of $38 billion compared to an adjusted surplus of $19 billion for December 2014.