Transcription
I'm Steve Balmer and here's a quick take from my teammate at USA Fax. Take it away, Lucia.
>> Thanks, Steve. Here's what I got. Every year, the president of the United States delivers a State of the Union address. At USA Facts, we took a look at the government data. Here's our State of the Union.
In fiscal year 2025, the federal government collected 5.3 trillion. About half came from individual income taxes. Another 34% came from payroll taxes that funds social security and Medicare. The rest a bunch of other things. The government spent 7.1 trillion. Most of that money went to social security, national defense, grants to state and local governments, interest on the debt, and Medicare. Together, that is 86% of all federal spending. Spending exceeded revenue by 34% resulting in a $1.79 trillion deficit.
America's national debt is the sum of all past deficits plus the interest the government paid to borrow that money. By the end of 2025, the national debt topped $38.5 trillion. And in 2025, America paid $961.7 billion in interest on the debt alone. That was 14% of all federal spending.
Let's talk inflation. It averaged 2.6% 6% in 2025, slightly lower than in 2024 and much lower than the recent peak in 2022. The top three contributors to inflation are housing, transportation, and food and beverage. The Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate three times. The current federal funds effective rate is 3.6% down from 4.3% in the first 8 months of 2025.
Let's talk trade and tariffs. US imports have exceeded exports every year since 1976, and 2025 was no different. From January through November, the US imported $4.0 trillion and exported 3.1 trillion, resulting in an $839.5 billion trade deficit, larger than the same period in 2024. There's a lot to talk about tariffs. In fiscal year 2025, customs duties, defined as tariffs and other import fees, generated $194.9 billion in federal revenue, more than double the total from fiscal year 2024. Even with that spike, it's only 4% of federal revenue. And so far in fiscal year 2026, tariff revenue has already surpassed the total for all of fiscal year 2024. Hm.
What else? One in eight people received SNAP benefits. Apprehensions at the US Mexico border hit the lowest levels ever recorded this century. The US labor force participation rate was 62.4%, a slight decrease from last year. 2025 ended with a 4.4% unemployment rate in December. The median weekly paycheck of a full-time worker was $1,24.
That's a short selective state of the union. There is still lots of 2025 data coming in. And that's a fact from USA Facts. As the president outlines priorities, USA Facts will continue tracking the data. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to never miss a video.