National debt rises $88.8 billion in a single day

WASHINGTON — The national debt reached $40.26T on October 1, up $88.8 billion from the prior day, as daily withdrawals outpaced deposits by $90.3 billion.

What the numbers show

The Treasury's debt-to-the-penny records show the total public debt outstanding at $40.26T on October 1, up $88.8 billion from the prior day's total. That one-day increase is the largest day-over-day move in recent weeks, larger than the $74.9 billion rise recorded on September 30. Over the roughly two months covered by the Treasury's trend data, the debt has grown at an average pace of about $6.66 billion per day, or roughly $77,074 per second.

October 1 is the first day of the new federal fiscal year, a point when large balances routinely move through Treasury accounts. Debt per resident, using the Census population figure of 342,875,301, now stands at $117,421.

Where the money moved

The Daily Treasury Statement tracks the government's operating cash, not the same thing as debt issuance. On October 1 it showed $373.7 billion flowing in through deposits and $464.0 billion flowing out through withdrawals, leaving a net daily outflow of $90.3 billion.

Separately, USAspending data shows that federal agencies obligated $2.10 billion across 4,417 award transactions on October 1. The single largest award that day was a $153.0 million Department of Veterans Affairs order to AT&T Enterprises for enterprise data network services, a routine enterprise IT contract.