The federal budget deficit rose in fiscal year 2016, the White House confirmed Friday, marking the first time federal deficit spending has increased since 2011. For 2016, the deficit clocked in at $587 billion of federal spending not covered by federal revenues.
As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), this is the first time the deficit has increased since 2009. The amount of money the government does not have but spent anyway over the last year is equal to 3.2 percent of the value of all goods and services produced in the United States in FY 2016. The 2015 deficit was 2.5 percent of GDP, and it neared 10 percent at the close of President George W. Bush's second term.
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