(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to champion the economy, pointing to lower inflation, rising stocks and cheaper gas prices in his first year back in office.
“This is the golden age of America,” Trump said in Tuesday’s address. “The roaring economy is roaring like never before.”
Public opinion, however, is more restrained. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll, released Friday, found that 68% of Americans do not believe the U.S. economy is booming — including 43% of Republicans.
Here are five charts that show how the economy has performed since Trump was inaugurated in January 2025.
Inflation eased but not for everything
Annual inflation rate (All items, Consumer Price Index)
- Jan. 2025: 3.0%
- Jan. 2026: 2.4%
The annual inflation rate was 3% when Trump took office in January 2025 and has since eased to 2.4%. That’s still slightly elevated but far below the 9% peak in 2022.
Rather than broad-based inflation, today’s picture is more uneven. Prices for everyday essentials like coffee, beef and electricity have continued to rise much faster than overall inflation, while others — including gasoline and eggs — are down from a year ago.
Trump’s tariffs have added some pressure to goods inflation, but policymakers at the Federal Reserve have suggested those effects could function more like a “one-time” shift in the price level rather than a sustained surge.
Just 16% of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said there is hardly any inflation in the U.S. today, while 82% disagreed with that statement.
What costs more since Jan. 2025 (Consumer Price Index)
- Coffee: +18.3%
- Beef and veal: +15.0%
- Electricity: +6.3%
What costs less since Jan. 2025 (Consumer Price Index)
- Eggs: -34.2%
- Gasoline (all types): -7.5%
- Used cars and trucks: -2.0%
The job market lost momentum
Unemployment rate (Labor Department)
- Jan. 2025: 4.0%
- Jan. 2026: 4.3%
U.S. employers added just 181,000 jobs in 2025, the lowest annual total outside of a recession since 2003, Labor Department data shows.
The limited hiring that did occur was heavily concentrated in one sector: health care and social assistance.
Even so, the unemployment rate barely moved, ticking up from 4.0% in Jan. 2025 to 4.3% in Jan. 2026. It’s why the labor market was often described as a “low hire, low fire” environment last year.
The jobs narrative was complicated by two other factors the Trump administration has pointed to: lower immigration and the shrinking federal workforce, both of which have dragged headline job numbers down.
Still, outside of health care, job seekers faced a tougher market in 2025, with openings falling to their lowest level in more than five years in December.
Stocks rose higher despite a rocky spring
S&P 500 annual return
- 2024: +23.3%
- 2025: +16.4%
The stock market continued its upward climb in Trump’s first year back in office, with the benchmark S&P 500 rising more than 16% in 2025.
That momentum has been a boost for Americans’ retirement accounts and extended a run of strength that included annual gains of over 20% in both 2023 and 2024.
Last year’s strong performance appeared at risk in the spring, when Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs sent stocks tumbling, but optimism about future interest rate cuts and continued enthusiasm for AI-related investments helped lift the market as the year went on.
The economy continued to grow
Real GDP growth (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis)
Economic growth continued in 2025, though at a slower pace than the year before, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Consumer spending — the backbone of the U.S. economy — remained a key driver, but some research suggests Americans were experiencing very different economic realities.
High earners in the top 10% accounted for nearly half of all spending in the second quarter. Business leaders highlighted the divide on recent earnings calls, pointing to strong demand for premium offerings — from air travel to high-end car purchases — while companies like McDonald’s emphasized the pressure facing middle and lower-income consumers.
The pattern has been described as a “K-shaped economy,” reflecting the gap between wealthier consumers who kept spending and those facing more financial strain. That divergence may help explain why consumer sentiment has remained weaker than the broader economic data might suggest.
Mortgage rates dipped but prices remain high
Avg. 30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac weekly averages)
- Jan. 23, 2025: 6.96%
- Jan. 22, 2026: 6.09%
Median sales price of existing homes (National Association of Realtors)
- Jan. 2025: $393,400
- Jan. 2026: $396,800
Buying a home didn’t get much easier in 2025 as prices continued to climb and long-term mortgage rates stayed above 6%. Those factors kept buyers on the sidelines, and sales of previously occupied homes remained stuck at a 30-year low, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
But there are some signs of affordability improvements ahead. Price growth has slowed, inventory is up in many major markets, and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate recently dipped below 6% for the first time since September 2022.
Sellers now outnumber buyers by a wide margin nationally, and in some markets — particularly in Texas and Florida — prices are falling.
Trump has blamed housing affordability challenges, in part, on institutional investors, and signed an executive order he says will make it harder for large Wall Street investment firms to buy up single-family homes.