Data and Financial Journalist
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 picked five charts of 2025 that captured how policy and politics reshaped the American economy
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.
Persistently high inflation makes this reduction a tricky one. The interest rate cut is the first in Trump’s second term as well as the first in 2025.
Here’s a list of All U.S. Government Shutdowns and Their Duration Since 1976