12-Month Rolling Deficit Rises to $2.1 Trillion in November 2024

From December 2023 to November 2024, the federal budget deficit totaled $2.1 trillion based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Monthly Budget Review. This is a $51 billion increase from our previous analysis of the rolling deficit through October 2024, which showed a total of $2.0 trillion.

CBO estimates the federal government borrowed $365 billion in November 2024 compared with $314 billion in November 2023, though this increase is due to the fact that December 1 fell on a weekend and thus payments that would normally be made on December 1 were made in November. If not for this timing shift, the November 2024 deficit would be smaller than November 2023. As a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we estimate the rolling deficit is 7.1 percent, compared to 7.5 percent of GDP in November 2023. 

Compared to the previous 12-month period, covering November 2023 to October 2024, total nominal spending is up $77 billion to $6.9 trillion (23.9 percent of GDP) and total revenue is up $26 billion to $4.9 trillion (16.8 percent of GDP).