after economic growth was weaker than previously reported at the end of last year, suggesting the economy lost some momentum before the war with Iran. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending increased 0.1% from December, according to data out Friday, and a gauge of underlying inflation favored by the Federal Reserve rose a firm 0.4%. The government also halved its initial estimate of growth in the fourth quarter, when a record-long government shutdown, a slowdown in consumption, and a decline in exports weighed on the economy.

Ships that left the Persian Gulf arrive in Asia this week and Europe next week. After that, there is no more. You haven’t seen anything of high prices yet. Even if the war ended tomorrow, it would take a month to restore the oil flow.

Economic growth was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025, while core inflation rose to start 2026, the Commerce Department reported Friday. GDP, a measure of all the goods and services produced across the sprawling U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of just 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. Recession here we come!

Job openings, a ‌measure of labor demand, rose by 396,000 to 6.946 million by the last day of January, the Labor ​Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said ​in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover ⁠Survey, or JOLTS report, on Friday. ​Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 6.70 million ​unfilled jobs. The job openings rate increased to 4.2% from 4.0% in December.

U.S. consumer sentiment ebbed in early March as war in thttps://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-admin/edit.php?post_status=draft&post_type=posthe Middle East raised ​gasoline prices and households worried about personal finances, ‌a survey showed on Friday. The University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers said its Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 55.5 this ​month from a final reading of 56.6 in ​February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast ⁠the index falling to 55.0.