Alina Selyuk

MasterCard, which tracks spending online and in stores, estimates that spending grew nearly 4% in November and December.

Even though inflation has cooled, wages and prices have sort of met in the middle.

with new government data showing that personal disposable income after inflation and taxes was stagnant mid-year, not growing much.

And then on future earnings, the latest jobs report from November saw a softening market, which has many people worried about getting a new job if they lose the one they have.

So the U.S.

economy is chugging along.

That was the takeaway.

It grew at an annual rate of 4.3%, which is some of the fastest growth we've seen in a couple of years.

And you know, the GDP report takes a bird's eye view of the economy.

It's got exports, imports, business investment.

But this time, two factors really gave it a boost.

One of them was the term of the year, which is AI.

People and companies spending on computer hardware and other techie things.

But the consumers are the perpetual motion machine and they are driving this GDP report.

Yes.

You're referring to the conference board, which has a survey showing confidence down for the fifth month in a row.

But, you know, I talked to Michael Zdenek.

He's an economist with S&P Global Market Intelligence, and he has this line.

It's tough love.

But historically, it's true.