Economy

For all the chaos along the way, President Trump’s first year back in the White House is ending with an economy that looks, by most conventional measures, much like the one he inherited. Unemployment is low, consumer spending is strong and inflation is stubbornly high but gradually improving.

Tariffs, Mr. Trump’s signature economic policy, haven’t set off the manufacturing renaissance he promised, but nor have they caused the surge in inflation that many forecasters feared. The stock market bobbed and weaved its way to a solid if not spectacular 16 percent gain. Analysts who began 2025 warning of the perils of uncertainty ended it by remarking on the U.S. economy’s surprising resilience.