This fiscal year's federal budget deficit is going to be a bit smaller than last year's, but is still more money than you can probably even wrap your head around.

The Congressional Budget Office released a report Tuesday that predicted the deficit to come in at $1.1 trillion by the end of the fiscal year in September. It's smaller than last year's $1.3 trillion, but it's not expected to sink much further for a while, at least until the bite taken out by Bush-era tax cuts gets refilled somehow, the Associated Press reports: "The Congressional Budget Office report also says that annual deficits will remain in the $1 trillion range for the next several years if Bush-era tax cuts slated to expire in December are extended, as commonly assumed." The CBO also weighed in on unemployment and economic growth, predicting "modest economic growth of 2 percent this year and forecasts that the unemployment rate will remain above 8 percent this year and next," according to the AP. "That is based on an assumption that President Barack Obama will fail to win renewal of payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits by the end of next month."

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Adam Martin