Budget Deficit Jumps to $347 Billion in May as Spending, Interest Costs Soar

Outlays increased by 22 percent while revenues rose by just 5 percent.

The National Debt Clock at a bus stop in Washington on June 10, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The U.S. government budget deficit totaled $347 billion in May, up from a $240 billion deficit in the same month a year earlier, according to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement data. This surpassed the consensus estimate of $250 billion.

Eight months into fiscal year 2024, the fiscal year-to-date federal shortfall totals $1.202 trillion, compared with a deficit of $1.695 trillion in the entire fiscal year of 2023.