US President Donald Trump addressed Congress on Tuesday for the first time during his second term in office. He approached the podium to justify his economic goals for the country. Recent data supports the claim that voter momentum could shift as Trump’s sweeping economic policy changes are enacted.
Following economic bar graphs is a good way to judge the economy’s direction and view historical data. The analytics help people make informed financial decisions and predict the future.
Financial Charts
Charts provide valuable insights into how the economy performs personally, nationally, or globally. For example, the quarterly actual gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 2.3% in the final quarter of 2024. US consumers drove the economic growth because of a strong labor market, leading to the US entering a solid 2025 that can weather financial volatility.
Though the GDP, the best measure of economic output, grew, it could lead to bumpy financial roads ahead. Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s real-time GDP forecast projected that the national economy could contract by 2.8%. However, the slide does not necessarily indicate a recession; it reflects a stronger-than-usual pullback from consumers after a busy holiday.
How Do Recent Trends Compare to the Previous Decade?
Inflation hit a 40-year high in 2022 and has slowly receded. Two key inflation gauges, the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index, were positive in January 2025, driven by rising food and energy prices.
Recently, financial concerns have heightened over new Trump administration policies, primarily regarding implementing tariffs on some of America’s most prominent allies. Between agricultural concerns like bird flu and the steep tariffs, prices could rise for consumers and businesses and possibly lead to a recession.
Reviewing economic graphs helps viewers understand the underlying data and the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. The Fed’s inflation gauge shows that America is heading toward disinflation, a relief for anyone purchasing gas or food at high prices. The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose at an annual rate of 2.5%, half a percentage point above the Fed’s 2% target rate.
High Inflation
Though prices are not rising as rapidly as in recent years, the cumulative effect of high inflation weighs heavily on many Americans, primarily those with little breathing room in their budgets. Many voters brought their justifiable frustrations to the ballot boxes during the last election, hoping that a new administration would ease the financial pains many suffer from the rising costs of goods and services.
It should be noted that price stabilization does not happen overnight, no matter who the current president is. A viable case in point is the humble egg. Egg prices have skyrocketed despite the economic and political outlook because of a deadly strain of avian flu, despite long-established practices to contain the spread.
Combatting Bird Flu
The Trump administration recently announced a five-pronged plan to combat bird flu and lower the price of eggs. Some producers expressed concern that the efforts do not go far enough, while the Department of Agriculture acknowledged that it could take a while for prices to come down.
Economic Growth
US stocks surged in 2024 because of cooling inflation and strong economic growth. A series of Federal Reserve rates and enthusiasm for the incoming administration boosted investor optimism after the AI revolution, a positive step for the national economy.
However, the first two months of 2025 saw all major stock indices drop into the red, which caused uncertainty on Wall Street and with everyday consumers. The good news is that responsible measures are in place to level the economy, and trends are easy to follow with economic graphs.
