WASHINGTON - Job losses are cutting into Social Security tax collections so much that the retirement program is projected to pay out almost as much in benefits next year as it collects in payroll taxes and other cash receipts.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that the Social Security trust funds will collect just $3 billion more in cash receipts than they will pay out in benefits in the 2010 budget year that starts in October. A year ago, before the economy slipped into recession, the CBO projected an $86 billion cash surplus for the same year.