The national debt, the deficit, inflation and jobs

The national debt

For scale: divided across the 334.9 million people in the U.S. (Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024), that's about $121,091 each. No one owes this personally; it's a way to picture the size of a debt the federal government owes.

Total public debt outstanding: $40.56 trillion on November 5, 2026. Of that, $32.77 trillion is held by the public (investors, banks, foreign governments, the Federal Reserve) and $7.79 trillion is owed to federal trust funds such as Social Security's.

Debt at the end of each fiscal year, in trillions of dollars (not adjusted for inflation). Treasury, Historical Debt Outstanding and Debt to the Penny.

What the debt is

• Whose debt it is: the federal government's. It's the total of Treasury bills, notes, bonds and other securities the government has issued and not yet repaid. It isn't a debt any person or household owes, and it doesn't include state, city or personal debt.
• Where it comes from: each year the government spends more than it collects in taxes and other revenue (a deficit), it borrows the difference. The debt is what has added up over time, less what's been repaid. A year's deficit is the yearly change; the debt is the running total. In fiscal 2026 the government took in $5.40 trillion, spent $7.40 trillion and so ran a deficit of $1.99 trillion.
• Held by the public is money owed to outside lenders: people, companies, banks, pension funds, state and local governments, foreign governments and investors, and the Federal Reserve. Intragovernmental is money one part of the government owes another, mostly trust funds such as Social Security's and federal retirement funds, which by law invest their surpluses in special Treasury securities.
• What it costs: the government pays interest to the holders ($1.36 trillion in fiscal 2026, at an average rate of 3.57% on marketable debt in October 2026), and when securities come due it usually issues new ones to repay them. Congress sets a legal limit on the total (the debt limit) and has raised or suspended it many times.
• What it leaves out: promised future payments that aren't borrowed yet, such as future Social Security and Medicare benefits, aren't part of the debt figure.
• Comparing years: the figures here are in dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation or for the size of the economy, so older amounts look small next to recent ones. For a sense of scale, consumer prices in September 2026 were 4.0 times their level in September 1980 (BLS, CPI-U).

The deficit

In fiscal 2026 (October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026), the federal government took in $5.40 trillion in revenue and spent $7.40 trillion (its outlays), a deficit of $1.99 trillion.

The deficit and the debt, side by side: over the same year the total debt rose by $2.53 trillion, from $37.64 trillion on September 30, 2025 to $40.17 trillion on September 30, 2026; debt held by the public rose by $2.15 trillion. The two don't match exactly. The total also counts what the government owes its own trust funds (their surpluses are lent to the Treasury, which adds to the debt but isn't part of the deficit), and changes in the Treasury's cash balance and its loan programs move what it borrows up or down.

Deficit for each fiscal year, in trillions of dollars (not adjusted for inflation). The Treasury's Fiscal Data service has its Monthly Treasury Statement figures from fiscal 2014 on. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, table 1.

Where the money came from and went, fiscal 2026

Fiscal 2026, from the September 2026 statement (Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, table 9), in the Treasury's own categories. Social insurance and retirement receipts are mostly Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. A line is negative where money the government collects in that category (such as loan repayments and fees, or federal agencies' payments into employee retirement funds) is larger than what it spent there; these are subtracted from the total. Shares are of the total; the negative lines have none.

• Month to month the figures swing a lot: receipts are usually highest in April, when individual income taxes are due, and when the first of a month falls on a weekend or holiday, some payments due then (such as benefits and military pay) are made in the month before. Compare whole fiscal years.
• Revisions: each new statement can revise earlier months; we show the latest published figures.

Interest on the debt

In fiscal 2026, the Treasury's interest expense on the public debt was $1.36 trillion: $1.07 trillion paid on securities held by the public, and $291.9 billion credited to federal trust funds and other government accounts on the Government Account Series securities they hold, which is money one part of the government pays another. Fiscal 2027 so far (1 month, through October 2026): $115.4 billion.

The budget's own "net interest" line is smaller, $1.05 trillion in fiscal 2026 (14% of outlays, in the table above), because it leaves out the interest one government account pays another and subtracts interest the government earns, such as on its loans.

Interest expense for each fiscal year, public and intragovernmental together, in trillions of dollars (not adjusted for inflation). Fiscal Data has this table from fiscal 2010 on. Treasury, Interest Expense on the Public Debt Outstanding.

Average interest rate

The average interest rate on the government's marketable debt was 3.57% at the end of October 2026. It's the average of the rates on all the bills, notes and bonds outstanding, so it moves slowly: securities issued years ago at other rates are still being paid off.

Total marketable debt, at the end of each month. Treasury, Average Interest Rates on U.S. Treasury Securities.

Inflation

Consumer prices were 3.7% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). From August to September 2026 they rose 0.6%, seasonally adjusted. The index stood at 336.940, which means prices averaged 337% of their 1982–84 level.

• How it's measured: each month BLS collects prices for thousands of goods and services, and rents for housing units, in urban areas across the country, and weights them by what households spend. It publishes the index around the middle of the following month.
• The 12-month change is the one most often reported as "the inflation rate." It uses the index without seasonal adjustment, comparing a month with the same month a year before. The change from the month before uses the seasonally adjusted index.
• What it isn't: it's an average. Any one household's costs depend on what it buys and where it lives.

CPI-U, all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted: the percent change from the same month a year earlier, computed from the published index as BLS computes it. BLS, Consumer Price Index (CUUR0000SA0); monthly changes from the seasonally adjusted index (CUSR0000SA0). No figure for October 2025: BLS didn't collect October 2025 prices (the government shutdown), so changes measured from that month aren't available either.

Jobs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes both figures in its monthly jobs report, usually on the first Friday of the month, from two different surveys:

• Payroll jobs come from a survey of about 120,000 businesses and government agencies (the establishment survey). They count nonfarm jobs, not people (someone with two jobs counts twice). The first figure for a month is an estimate that BLS revises over the next two months as more reports come in, and again each year.
• The unemployment rate comes from a survey of about 60,000 households (the Current Population Survey). It's the share of people in the labor force (working or looking for work) who don't have a job and looked for one in the past four weeks. People who've stopped looking aren't counted as unemployed.
• Both are seasonally adjusted: BLS removes the usual swings of the calendar, such as holiday hiring and summer jobs, so one month can be compared with the next.

Payroll jobs

Total nonfarm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, in millions. BLS, Current Employment Statistics (CES0000000001).

Unemployment rate

Seasonally adjusted, from the household survey. BLS, Current Population Survey (LNS14000000). No figure for October 2025: BLS didn't collect it (the October 2025 government shutdown).

How we show these

Every figure is the agency's own, unchanged, and links to its source. We don't credit or blame any president, party or Congress for these numbers: spending, taxes, interest rates and the economy all move them, and budget years don't line up with terms in office. BLS revises the latest two months of payroll jobs, and each year's benchmark revises earlier ones; the Treasury's monthly statements can revise earlier months of receipts and outlays; we show the current published figures. Dollar amounts aren't adjusted for inflation. The inflation percentages are computed from BLS's published index values, rounded to one decimal place, the same way BLS computes the ones it reports.

Quick answers

What is the national debt right now?

$40.56 trillion on November 5, 2026, according to the Treasury's Debt to the Penny: $32.77 trillion held by the public and $7.79 trillion held by federal trust funds and other government accounts.

What is the unemployment rate?

4.1% in October 2026, seasonally adjusted, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' household survey.

Who owns the national debt?

$32.77 trillion (81%) is held by the public: individuals, companies, banks, pension funds, state and local governments, foreign governments and investors, and the Federal Reserve. The other $7.79 trillion is owed to federal trust funds such as Social Security's, which by law invest their surpluses in Treasury securities (Treasury, November 5, 2026).

Do I personally owe part of the national debt?

No. The debt is owed by the federal government, not by individuals or households. Dividing it by the U.S. population (about $121,091 per person) is only a way to picture its size.

What's the difference between the debt and the deficit?

The deficit is one year's shortfall: how much more the government spends than it collects that year. The debt is the running total of what it has borrowed to cover past deficits, less what it has repaid. In fiscal 2026 the deficit was $1.99 trillion, and the total debt grew by $2.53 trillion, from $37.64 trillion to $40.17 trillion (Treasury).

What was the federal deficit in fiscal 2026?

A deficit of $1.99 trillion: the government took in $5.40 trillion and spent $7.40 trillion from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, according to the Treasury's Monthly Treasury Statement.

How much interest does the U.S. pay on the national debt?

$1.36 trillion in fiscal 2026, the Treasury's interest expense on the public debt: $1.07 trillion on securities held by the public and $291.9 billion credited to federal trust funds and other government accounts. The average interest rate on marketable Treasury debt was 3.57% at the end of October 2026.

What is the inflation rate?

Consumer prices were 3.7% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U, not seasonally adjusted). From the month before, prices rose 0.6% in September 2026, seasonally adjusted.

How has the national debt changed over time?

$907.7B in fiscal 1980, $5.67T in fiscal 2000, $13.56T in fiscal 2010, $26.95T in fiscal 2020, and $40.56 trillion on November 5, 2026 (Treasury, not adjusted for inflation).

How is the unemployment rate measured?

From a monthly survey of about 60,000 households: the share of people in the labor force who don't have a job and looked for one in the past four weeks. People who have stopped looking aren't counted as unemployed. Payroll jobs come from a separate survey of about 120,000 businesses and government agencies.

How many jobs were added last month?

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000 in October 2026 (preliminary), to 159.3 million, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' establishment survey (seasonally adjusted). BLS revises the latest two months.