Inflation Remains Relatively Stable, Still Above Fed Target
From August 2025 to September 2025, headline personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index inflation was 0.27 percent compared to 0.26 percent for the previous month. Core PCE price index inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, decreased slightly month over month and was 0.20 percent...
National Debt Hits $38.40 Trillion, Increased $2.23 Trillion Year over Year, $6.12 Billion Per Day
The Joint Economic Committee released its Monthly Debt Update for December, including the national debt’s interest rate and composition as of December 3, 2025. As of December 3, 2025, total gross national debt is $38.40 trillion. Relative to one year ago, total gross national debt is $2.23 trillion...
ICYMI: Op-ed...Stop Propping Up Sickness and Start Propping Up Health
Today, The Hill ran an Op-ed by Joint Economic Committee Chairman David Schweikert on Congress’ misguided focus on subsidizing healthcare instead of looking at innovative solutions that reduce costs and help people become healthier. This Op-ed follows on a recent brief released by the JEC entitled “...
October Ends with $284.4 Billion Deficit after Ending September with Surplus
In October, and thus far this fiscal year, the federal government ran a deficit of $284.350 billion. This means 41.29 percent of outlays were not paid for by revenues, and for every dollar the federal government received in revenue, it spent $1.70.
August Trade Gap Drops to $59.6 Billion, Down from $78.2 Billion in July
The August trade deficit of $59.55 billion is 32 percent below the 12-month average and down from $78.2 billion in July. It is significantly lower than the peak of $136.42 billion in March 2025.
ICYMI: Joint Economic Committee Hearing: Frontier Technologies, Industrial Efficiency, and Pro-Innovation Policies
On November 18, 2025, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee held a hearing titled Frontier Technologies, Industrial Efficiency, and Pro-Innovation Policies. Members engaged with witnesses on how we may increase labor productivity through technological advances, including how the technology itse...
Jobs Up, Unemployment Rate and Participation Rate Relatively Unchanged
In the latest Joint Economic Committee Employment Update, jobs increased by 119,000 in September, more than expected and a much-needed boost after an abysmal report in August that revised numbers showed a loss of 4,000 after an initial estimate of only a 22,000 increase. The unemployment rate remain...
Joint Economic Committee Hearing: Frontier Technologies, Industrial Efficiency, and Pro-Innovation Policies
The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) will hold a hearing on Tuesday, November 18 at 2:30pmET in 216 Hart Senate Office Building. The hearing, entitled Frontier Technologies, Industrial Efficiency, and Pro-Innovation Policies, will touch on how we may increase labor productivity through t...
National Debt Hits $38.09 Trillion, Increased $2.18 Trillion Year over Year, $5.97 Billion Per Day
As of November 6, 2025, total gross national debt is $38.09 trillion, which is $2.18 trillion higher than one year ago and $10.89 trillion higher than five years ago. Also, over the past year, the rate of increase averaged $5.97 billion per day, $248.91 million per hour, $4.15 million per minute, or...
Joint Economic Committee Finds Biden's COVID Premium Subsidies Led to Financial Boom for Insurers while providing Limited Reduction in Consumer Costs
Joint Economic Committee Finds Biden’s COVID Premium Subsidies Outlived Intended Temporary Purpose. The JEC's latest brief, Long Overdue: Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Should Expire, finds that the Biden COVID premium subsidies (enhanced premium tax credits) have not only outlived their intended temp...