The U.S. debt ceiling caps how much the Treasury can borrow to pay bills Congress already approved. Here is how the $41.1 trillion limit works and when it binds next.

The FOMC is expected to hold rates at 3.50% to 3.75% and the prime rate at 6.75% on June 17, with the new dot plot and a hot May inflation print the real story.

Treasury's $22 billion 30-year auction stopped at 5.02% on June 11, the first back-to-back 5% sales since 2007, days before the June 16-17 Fed meeting.

May CPI rose 0.5% for the month and 4.2% over the year, the first 4% reading since 2023. Core held at 2.9% as the Fed heads into its June 16-17 meeting.

The U.S. prime rate is 6.75%, but the Fed does not set it. Here is how banks derive prime from the federal funds rate and what it means for your loans.

The average rate on U.S. interest-bearing debt rose to 3.353% in May, the highest since October 2025, as low-coupon debt refinances into higher market yields.

U.S. employers added 172,000 jobs in May 2026 and unemployment held at 4.3 percent, reinforcing a June Federal Reserve hold and keeping the prime rate at 6.75 percent.

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed toward 4.5% as an oil spike pushed markets to price an 85% chance of a 2026 Fed rate hike, even as the prime rate held at 6.75%.

Private employers added 122,000 jobs in May, ADP reported June 3, a broad-based gain that reinforces the case for the Federal Reserve to hold rates at its June 16-17 meeting and keep prime at 6.75%.

Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman defended keeping rate cuts on the table in a May 29 speech, urging the Committee to look past oil-driven inflation before the June 16-17 FOMC.