WASHINGTON – The U.S. government posted a record-high budget deficit of $367 billion for November, up 17% from the same month last year, according to the Treasury Department.
The deficit was boosted by calendar adjustments for benefit payments, which accelerated Medicare and Social Security payments into November, adding $80 billion to outlays compared to the same month in 2023. Without these adjustments, the deficit would have been $29 billion, or 9% lower than last year.
Receipts and outlays also reached record highs for the month of November, with receipts up 10% to $302 billion and outlays up 14% to $669 billion.
The deficit for the first two months of the 2025 fiscal year, which started on October 1, also reached a record high of $624 billion, up 64% from the same period last year. The deficits were inflated by calendar-related benefit shifts and higher receipts in October and November of 2023 due to the expiration of tax payment deferrals tied to California wildfires and other weather-related disasters.
Year-to-date receipts were down 7% from a year earlier to $629 billion, while year-to-date outlays were up 18% to $1.253 trillion. The outlays for the first two months of the fiscal year included a $4 billion, or 30%, increase in Department of Homeland Security spending to $19 billion, largely reflecting Federal Emergency Management Agency spending related to recent hurricanes. The Treasury’s interest cost on public debt for the fiscal year’s first two months was flat at $169 billion, despite a $7 billion increase for November.
