Category Budget

Budget, Personal Loans

Federal Interest Costs Hit Record $1.36 Trillion in Fiscal 2026, Up $140 Billion

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The federal government spent $1.360 trillion on interest in fiscal 2026, Treasury's closing accounting shows, up $140.4 billion from fiscal 2025 and a record high.

Shelly Warding
October 13, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Treasury Bills Reach 22.4% of Marketable Debt, Highest Share Since 2020

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Treasury bills ended fiscal 2026 at $7.118 trillion, or 22.36% of marketable federal debt, the largest fiscal year end share since 2020. Bills grew $721.1 billion over the year.

Mitch Strohm
October 12, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Waller Says 16 of 18 Fed Dots Point to Another 2026 Hike, Not Every Meeting

A formal international economic conference hall photographed wide, with a single speaker silhouetted from behind at a dark wood lectern on a spotlit stage and rows of empty deep blue tiered seating stretching back toward a tall arched window filled with pale morning light.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said 16 of 18 officials who filed September projections expect another 2026 rate increase, and that the hikes need not come at back to back meetings.

Laura Adams
October 11, 2026

Budget, Personal Loans

National Debt Hits Record $40.3 Trillion, Up $133 Billion in Six Days

The neoclassical south facade of the United States Treasury Building in Washington photographed from the base of its granite steps at golden hour, with a row of tall fluted columns casting long shadows under a breaking storm sky.

Total public debt outstanding reached $40,305,316,210,829.72 on October 8, 2026, the first reading ever above $40.3 trillion and up $133.49 billion in six business days.

Shelly Warding
October 10, 2026

Budget, Personal Loans

Average Interest Rate on the Federal Debt Hits 3.531% as New Bonds Pay 5.618%

The neoclassical stone facade and tall columns of the United States Treasury Department building in Washington DC lit by late afternoon sunlight under a clear sky

Treasury's blended rate on all interest bearing federal debt reached 3.531% on September 30, the highest since April 2009, while new 30-year bonds cleared 5.618%.

Mitch Strohm
October 9, 2026

Budget, Credit Cards

Fed Minutes Show Most Officials Back Another Hike With Prime at 7.00%

The neoclassical marble facade of the Federal Reserve Board headquarters in Washington DC photographed in late afternoon autumn light, with bare tree branches in the foreground and deep shadows falling between the building's tall columns.

Minutes of the September FOMC meeting show a unanimous 12 to 0 vote to raise rates and most officials expecting one more increase before the end of 2026.

Laura Adams
October 8, 2026

Budget, Personal Loans

Federal Debt Grew $2.46 Trillion in Fiscal 2026 to End at $40.1 Trillion

The neoclassical stone columns of the United States Treasury Department building in Washington D.C. photographed at dawn in warm low-angle autumn sunlight, with bare tree branches framing the left edge and an overcast sky breaking into light above the roofline.

The federal debt grew $2.46 trillion in fiscal 2026 and closed at $40.097 trillion, the first fiscal year to end above $40 trillion. Here is what it costs.

Shelly Warding
October 1, 2026

Budget, Personal Loans

Core PCE Holds at 3.0% in August as Consumer Spending Jumps 0.9%

Wide view down a bright modern supermarket refrigerated dairy aisle with tall glass front coolers lining both sides, a shopper's hands lifting a plain white carton out of an open cooler door and lowering it into a mostly empty metal shopping cart with a blue handle, pale gray polished floor reflecting overhead fluorescent light strips, the far end of the aisle falling out of focus

Core PCE inflation held at 3.0% in August while consumer spending jumped 0.9% and the saving rate fell to 4.1%, leaving the Fed a split signal before the October FOMC meeting.

Mitch Strohm
September 30, 2026

Budget, Personal Loans

Treasury Yields From 3 Years Out All Top 5% for the First Time Since 2007

Early morning golden sunlight rakes across the neoclassical stone columns and facade of the United States Treasury building in Washington under a clear deep blue autumn sky.

Every Treasury maturity from three years out to 30 years closed at or above 5.00% on September 28, 2026, the first time since July 2007. The 10-year reached 5.24%.

Laura Adams
September 29, 2026

Budget, Personal Loans

Interest on the Debt Hits $1.27 Trillion With One Month Left in Fiscal 2026

Wide low angle view of the neoclassical United States Treasury building facade at sunrise with tall fluted stone columns lit by warm golden light and long deep shadows falling across the wide granite steps beneath a pale clear autumn sky

Federal interest expense reached $1,267.8 billion in eleven months of fiscal 2026, topping all of fiscal 2025, as the average rate on Treasury debt hit a 17-year high.

Shelly Warding
September 28, 2026