The U.S. budget deficit is expected to rise for the first time since 2009

Good news for the market.
(Image credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

The U.S. budget deficit will likely increase this year, the Congressional Budget Office predicted Tuesday. A jump would mark the first since 2009, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Fiscal year 2016, which ends Sept. 30, will see a shortfall between government spending and revenue of about $544 billion, up from last fiscal year's $439 billion. A small fraction of the difference can be accounted for by a calendar technicality: Since Oct. 1 falls during the weekend this year, some would-be 2017 spending is getting bumped up to fiscal year 2016. About $44 billion worth of spending, to be exact.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.