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US population growth slows as immigration numbers drop
United States population growth has slowed significantly alongside a sharp drop in immigration, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population growth in the U.S. grew only 0.5% to 1.8 million between 1 July 2024 and 1 July 2025. This marks the slowest population growth since the COVID pandemic, when there was a historically low increase of 0.2% in 2021. Assistant division chief for estimates and projections at the Census Bureau said the sharp decline in net international migration was the reason for the slower growth rate, as births and deaths remained relatively stable. “The slowdown in U.S. population growth is largely due to a historic decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in the period from July 2024 through June 2025,” she said. Despite immigrants accounting for much of the labour force growth following the pandemic, illegal border crossing has essentially come to a halt. President Donald Trump has also cracked down on deporting undocumented immigrants, with immigration raids across the country and limited legal immigration. This includes a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding, even as the agency faces backlash over its tactics following
Reports
US consumer confidence dives to more than decade low
American consumer confidence has fallen through the floor, landing at levels last seen when Tony Abbott was still the Australian prime minister and the iPhone 6 was considered cutting-edge technology. The Conference Board’s January reading of 84.5 isn’t so much a bad number as it is a warning flare fired from the suburban checkout line, with consumers' hip pockets feeling the brunt of the pain. Wall Street shrugs these numbers off as noise, with share traders acting as if sentiment surveys are an indulgence for economists with too much time on their hands. But consumer confidence isn’t about what Americans bought yesterday, it’s about what they’re scared to buy tomorrow. Two ideas sit at the centre of this slump. The first is the labour market, the second is affordability; both are being treated by the Trump administration as if they’re unrelated annoyances rather than symptoms of the same illness. Fewer than one in four Americans now believe work is plentiful. The so-called labour market differential, aka the gap between people who say jobs are easy to get and those who say they’re scarce, has collapsed to levels that usually come with rising unemployment. When households sense that hiring has stalled
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US Q3 growth revised higher as profits improve
The United States economy grew slightly faster than initially estimated in the third quarter, according to revised government data released on Thursday, while corporate profits were also adjusted higher. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at a revised annualised rate of 4.4% in the July–September period, up from the previously reported 4.3% pace and marking the fastest growth since the third quarter of 2023, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said in its updated estimate. Markets had expected GDP growth at 4.3%. The economy expanded at a 3.8% pace in the second quarter. The modest upward revision reflected stronger exports and business investment, while imports, which subtract from GDP, were also revised higher. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose at a 3.5% rate in the third quarter. However, underlying domestic demand showed some softening. Final sales to private domestic purchasers, a key measure of internal demand, increased at a 2.9% rate, revised down from the previously estimated 3.0%. The BEA said the rise in real GDP reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, government spending and investment, while imports decline
Reports
Billionaire wealth grew rapidly in 2025, says Oxfam
Billionaire wealth grew three times faster than the past five-year average, according to an Oxfam report. The Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power report was published as the World Economic Forum opens in Davos, and found that billionaire wealth grew nearly 81% since 2020. In 2025 alone, it grew 16% to US$18.3 trillion (A$27.29 trillion). In a media release, Oxfam said that the surge in billionaire wealth coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump pursuing a pro-billionaire agenda through slashing taxes for the ultra-rich, which undermined global efforts to tax large corporations, reversed attempts to address monopoly power and contributed to the growth of AI-related stocks that have provided a boon to super-rich investors worldwide. The report found that the collective wealth of billionaires surged by US$2.5 trillion, most equivalent to the total wealth held by the bottom half of humanity – 4.1 billion people. This rise in wealth would be enough to eradicate extreme poverty 26 times over. For the first time ever, the number of billionaires surpassed 3,000, with the richest person in the world, Elon Musk, being the first to surpass half a trillion dollars. The 48 billionair
Reports
China records slowest quarterly growth since 2023
China’s economy grew 5% for the full year, despite a slowdown in the final quarter, fuelled by growing trade friction with the United States and the prolonged real estate slump. Gross domestic product (GDP) for Q4 of 2025 grew 4.5% according to data from the National Statistics Bureau, marking a slowdown from 4.8% in the quarter. It was also the weakest reading since the first quarter of 2023, which also saw an increase of 4.5%. This slowdown is likely to put more pressure on Beijing to meet an expected target of between 4.5% and 5% GDP growth for 2026. The country met its full-year GDP growth target of 5%. Retail sales grew by 0.9% in December from the year earlier, missing economists’ expectations for 1.2% growth and slowing from 1.3% in November. Industrial output climbed by 5.2% in the final month of 2025, topping expectations of 5% growth and up from 4.8% in the previous month. Fixed-asset investment, which includes real estate, contracted 3.8% last year, worse than economists’ forecast for a 3% drop in a Reuters poll. The unemployment rate came in at 5.2% for the year and 5.1% in December, remaining unchanged from the month before. Property investment declined by 17.2% for the year, falling further

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China's industrial profits plunge 13% in Novermber
China's industry profits have fallen at the fastest rate in more than a year. The profits for November dropped by just over 13% according to the National Bureau of Statistics, compared to a drop of 5.5% in October, leading to calls for more stimulus policies. The report saw that the Chinese automotive industry recorded a 7.5% rise in profits, and high-tech manufacturing was ahead of the pack with a 10% increase, outperforming more traditional industry. Weak domestic demand and consumer confidence have driven the fall, with President Xi Jinping's economic team fighting to get the industrial sector and broader economy back on track for the long term. After a two day policy conference this week, China’s finance ministry doubled down on promising more active fiscal policy for next year, but details were scarce, outside of a boost in funding for to invest in “new quality productive forces”.
Reports
US GDP expands 4.3% in Q3; consumer confidence falls
The United States economy expanded at a much faster pace than expected in the third quarter, underpinned by resilient consumer spending, according to a delayed government report released on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT). Gross domestic product, which measures the total value of goods and services produced across the U.S. economy, rose at an annualised rate of 4.3% in the July–September period, the Commerce Department said in its initial reading of third-quarter growth. This compared with economists’ expectations for a 3.3% increase. Household demand was a key driver of the stronger-than-anticipated outcome. Consumer spending rose 3.5% in the third quarter, accelerating from a 2.5% increase in the previous quarter. Growth was also supported by higher exports and increased government spending, while a smaller decline in private fixed investment provided an additional lift. The release had originally been scheduled for 30 October but was postponed due to the federal government shutdown. The Commerce Department said: “Due to the recent government shutdown, this initial report for the third quarter of 2025 replaces the release of the advance estimate originally scheduled for October 30 and the second estimate originally sc
Reports
US consumer sentiment up slightly in December: UMich
United States consumer sentiment rose slightly to 52.9 in December, though it remains well below 2024’s levels amid high prices and inflation concerns. The consumer sentiment index was up 3.7% from the previous month, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. This is 28.5% lower than in December 2024, however. “Consumer sentiment confirmed its early month reading, inching up less than two index points from November, within the margin of error,” said Surveys of Consumers director Joanne Hsu. December’s preliminary reading, released earlier in the month, was 53.3. Economists had projected an index of 52, according to Reuters polls. Buying conditions for durable goods dropped by 6%, their fifth consecutive month of decreases, and are more than 40% under their levels in December 2024. “The escalation of tariffs in this past spring spurred fears of catastrophic inflation among consumers,” said Hsu. “While those fears abated as tariff policy have since eased, consumers are still expecting inflation to remain elevated for the foreseeable future, thus diluting the potential purchasing power of their budgets.” Consumer sentiment was lowest among Democrats, at 35.5, though this increased from 32.4 in No
Reports
Australian consumer confidence sinks in December
Australian consumer sentiment fell 9% in December after a stronger-than-expected November reading, with consumers’ expectations for the economy plunging. Sentiment dropped to 94.5 this month, according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index. November’s score was 103.8, a seven-year high. “The Index has jumped around in recent months, but it has finished the year broadly in ‘cautiously pessimistic’ territory,” wrote Westpac Group economist Ryan Wells. “While this marks a clear improvement from the prolonged, deep pessimism that defined much of 2024, a sustained move into outright optimism remains elusive for the Australian consumer.” Respondents’ economic expectations for the next 12 months dropped by 9.7%, the report found, reversing November’s gains. The outlook for the next five years fell by 11.7%. Expectations for family finances across the next year also declined by 6.1%, though it remains in positive territory at 102.4. The index measuring consumers’ willingness to buy a major item decreased by 11.4%. Consumers’ outlook for mortgage rates over the next year surged 22.2%, part of a 65.4% increase in the last three months. This was driven by a larger proportion of consumers projecting int