{"id":48,"date":"2026-07-14T06:56:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T06:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2nmnews.com\/?p=48"},"modified":"2026-07-14T06:56:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T06:56:02","slug":"us-economy-shows-strength-and-warning-signs-in-key-indicators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/?p=48","title":{"rendered":"US Economy Shows Strength\u2014and Warning Signs\u2014in Key Indicators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. economy entered 2025 with solid growth and a resilient labor market, but several indicators were beginning to flash warning signs as the Trump administration pursued major changes to trade and economic policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Real gross domestic product expanded at a 2.3% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2024. At the same time, the Atlanta Federal Reserve\u2019s real-time forecast briefly pointed to a 2.8% contraction, reflecting weaker post-holiday spending and a surge in imports ahead of tariffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inflation remained above the Federal Reserve\u2019s target. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 2.5% from a year earlier, while overall inflation stood at 3% and shelter costs increased 4.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"nm-econ-chart\" aria-labelledby=\"econ-chart-title\">\n<style>\n.nm-econ-chart{margin:2rem 0;padding:1.25rem;border:1px solid #c9c1b3;background:#f5f1e8;color:#171714;font-family:Arial,sans-serif}\n.nm-econ-chart h2{margin:0 0 .35rem;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:1.45rem}\n.nm-econ-chart .sub{margin:0 0 1.2rem;color:#625b50;font-size:.9rem}\n.nm-econ-row{display:grid;grid-template-columns:minmax(150px,1.6fr) 3fr 58px;gap:.75rem;align-items:center;margin:.8rem 0}\n.nm-econ-track{height:22px;background:#ded8cc;position:relative;overflow:hidden}\n.nm-econ-bar{height:100%;background:#71479a}\n.nm-econ-bar.neg{background:#b8322a}\n.nm-econ-value{font-weight:700;text-align:right}\n.nm-econ-note{margin:1rem 0 0;font-size:.78rem;color:#625b50;border-top:1px solid #c9c1b3;padding-top:.75rem}\n@media(max-width:600px){.nm-econ-row{grid-template-columns:1fr 48px}.nm-econ-track{grid-column:1\/-1}.nm-econ-value{grid-column:2;grid-row:1}}\n<\/style>\n<h2 id=\"econ-chart-title\">Selected U.S. economic indicators<\/h2>\n<p class=\"sub\">Annual rates reported around the start of 2025<\/p>\n<div class=\"nm-econ-row\"><span>Q4 2024 real GDP growth<\/span><div class=\"nm-econ-track\"><div class=\"nm-econ-bar\" style=\"width:46%\"><\/div><\/div><span class=\"nm-econ-value\">2.3%<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"nm-econ-row\"><span>Atlanta Fed GDPNow forecast<\/span><div class=\"nm-econ-track\"><div class=\"nm-econ-bar neg\" style=\"width:56%\"><\/div><\/div><span class=\"nm-econ-value\">\u22122.8%<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"nm-econ-row\"><span>PCE inflation<\/span><div class=\"nm-econ-track\"><div class=\"nm-econ-bar\" style=\"width:50%\"><\/div><\/div><span class=\"nm-econ-value\">2.5%<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"nm-econ-row\"><span>Overall inflation<\/span><div class=\"nm-econ-track\"><div class=\"nm-econ-bar\" style=\"width:60%\"><\/div><\/div><span class=\"nm-econ-value\">3.0%<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"nm-econ-row\"><span>Unemployment rate<\/span><div class=\"nm-econ-track\"><div class=\"nm-econ-bar\" style=\"width:80%\"><\/div><\/div><span class=\"nm-econ-value\">4.0%<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"nm-econ-row\"><span>Shelter inflation<\/span><div class=\"nm-econ-track\"><div class=\"nm-econ-bar\" style=\"width:88%\"><\/div><\/div><span class=\"nm-econ-value\">4.4%<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"nm-econ-note\">Bars use a common 0\u20135% visual scale; the red bar marks contraction. GDPNow is a forecast, while the other values are reported indicators. Source: CNN, BLS, BEA and Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consumers were also facing pressure from housing and vehicle costs. The median new-home price reached $446,300 in January, while the average new car sold for about $48,100\u2014roughly $10,000 more than before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The labor market remained historically strong, with unemployment at 4%, but hiring had slowed and job seekers were staying unemployed longer. January payrolls increased by 143,000, below expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reporting source: CNN Business. Chart compiled by 2NM News from figures cited in the report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. economy entered 2025 with solid growth and a resilient labor market, but several indicators were beginning to flash warning signs as the Trump administration\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions\/50"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2nmnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}