Data and Financial Journalist
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed dramatically in October 2025, falling to $29.4 billion, the smallest monthly gap since May 2009, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis. That represents a 39% drop from a revised $48.1 billion deficit in September.
In 2025, the U.S. economy didn’t simply cool or rebound but changed in ways that were visible in the data itself.
A shutdown distorted inflation, tariffs reset global trade, U.S. debt buyers quietly swapped places, and food prices surged. I pick five charts that captured how policy and politics reshaped the American economy in 2025.
Foreign investors now hold more than $9 trillion in U.S. Treasurys, but growing purchases by advanced economies contrast with pullbacks by China and other emerging markets.
U.S. inflation cooled sharply in November, but the 2.7 percent reading is not considered official after a government shutdown forced changes in how the CPI was calculated.