Thursday, June 26, 2025

State Spending for 2023

In March 2025 the US Census Bureau released data on state finances for FY 2023 here and here, including spending and revenue for each individual state and for all states combined.

On June 26, 2025 we updated state and local spending and revenue data for FY2023 through FY2029 as follows:

  1. We replaced "guesstimatedstate spending and revenue data for FY2023 using the new FY2022 data from the Census Bureau.
  2. We replaced "guesstimatedlocal spending and revenue data for FY 2021 with estimates for each spending and revenue category using the trends in state finances between FY 2021 and FY 2022.
  3. We replaced "guesstimatedstate revenue data for FY 2023 with data from the Census Bureau's quarterly state tax summary here.
  4. We replaced "guesstimatedlocal revenue data for FY 2023 with estimates for each category using trends for each category of state revenue between FY 2021 and FY 2022.
  5. We replaced "guesstimated" state and local spending and revenue for FY 2023 thru FY2029 with new guesstimates based on the latest Census Bureau data for FY 2022 state finances and FY 2023 quarterly tax data.

But there is a problem.

In recent years the Census Bureau has reported Medicaid Vendor Payments to States under item code E74 and other welfare payments under E75 and E79. But now they are all combined under item code E79. This is a problem because usgovernmentspending.com reports Medicaid and the rest of Welfare separately. For now, we are  "guesstimating" E74, E75 and E79 pending release of the combined state and local finances later this year.

We expect the Census Bureau to release local spending and revenue data for FY 2022 not earlier than Summer 2024.

Agency Debt Update for 2024

On June 24, 2025, usgovernmentspending.com updated its data for agency debt from the Federal Reserve Board database. Data is now available for the period 1945-2024. You can see our Agency Debt page here, and a comparison with the official "on-the-books" debt here.

For the period 2024 to 2029 usgovernmentspending.com has "guesstimated" the agency debt, assuming that it increases at the same rate as it did in 2022 to 2023.

See "Federal 'Agency Debt' Added" for explanation of  data derivation.

Data is downloaded from the FRB data download page for "Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1)" as follows.

  1. Select a preformatted data package: "L.211 (A) Agency- and GSE-Backed Securities, n.s.a."
  2. Click: Format package.
  3. Select: Last 100 years.
  4. Click: Go to Download.
  5. Click: Download File.

Friday, June 20, 2025

Medicare/Social Security 2025 Trustees Reports Released

On June 18, 2025, the Center for Medicare Services released its annual Medicare Trustees Report, which projects Medicare spending out to 2095.  As in the past, the report shows that federal health-care programs will eat the budget.

In this report the Trustees forecast that Medicare will top out at a little above 6 percent of GDP in the 2080s.

On June 20, 2025, usgovernmentspending.com updated its chart of the Medicare Outlook here based on data in the 2025

 Medicare Trustees Report.  You can download the data and also view selected Medicare Trustee forecasts going back to 2005.

On June 18, 2025, the Social Security Administration released its annual OASDI Trustees Report, which projects Social Security spending out to 2095.  As in the past, the report shows that Social Security spending will max out at about 6 percent of GDP. UsGovernmentspending.com uses the Supplemental Single Year Tables.

On June 20, 2025, usgovernmentspending.com updated its chart of the Social Security Outlook here based on data in the 2025 OASDI Trustees Report.  You can download the data and also view selected OASDI Trustee forecasts going back to 1997.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

US Gross Output for 2024 Released

On May 13, 2025, usgovernmentspending.com updated its Gross Output series with the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, including nominal Gross Output for calendar 2024 of $47.837 trillion. Gross Output for some years previous to 2024 have been revised by BEA.

usgovernmentspending.com reports Gross Output on its Spending Details page and permits charting of spending and revenue as "percent of Gross Output".

The Gross Output series extends back to 1947.

Process:
  1. Click on link.
  2. Click on "Underlying Detail Tables." 
  3. Click on "view detail levels tables... in XLSX format."
  4. Click on "Gross Output by Industry" link
  5. Save .xlsx file.

Friday, January 31, 2025

US GDP for 2024 Updated

On January 31, 2025 usgovernmentspending.com updated its GDP series with the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, under "Supplemental Information & Additional Data" including nominal US GDP for third quarter 2024 of $29.375 trillion and real US GDP  for third quarter 2024 of $23.400 trillion in 2017 dollars. Real GDP is now expressed in 2017 dollars.

Up to now, usgovernmentspending.com has shown GDP for calendar years. But the OMB forecast for US GDP in Table 10.1 - Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables uses GDP for the US federal government's fiscal year that ends every year on September 30. So we have changed GDP to the US fiscal year.

Thus GDP, real and nominal, looks like this:

usgovernmentspending.com computes inflation rate as:

((This Year GDP - Last Year GDP)/Last Year GDP - (This Year Real GDP - Last Year Real GDP)/Last Year Real GDP)*100.