What Do the Latest GDP Numbers Mean for the Year Ahead?

The US economy grew at a 4.4% annual pace in the third quarter of 2025 according to updated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data.

The Details: The Bureau of Economic Analysis released a report Thursday showing that inflation-adjusted GDP, which is the measure for the value of goods and services produced in the US, increased at the fastest rate in two years. The increase in real GDP, according to the report, "reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, government spending, and investment," while imports, "which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased."

For Context: GDP data was initially reported to have grown 3% in quarter 2 of 2025, but was later revised to show 3.8% growth. Following the 43-day government shutdown that ended in November, governmental data-publication efforts are still running behind. The Commerce Department usually provides three sets of updates to quarterly GDP, but due to the delay in publications, this second pass will serve as the final adjustment for the third quarter.

How The Media Covered It: Jared Whitley, writing opinion for Townhall (Right bias) framed the GDP data around "America First policies" and how they "can lead to more growth in 2026." Whitley said, "it is vital to look 'under the hood' and assess what has been powering this economic resurgence," adding that when you do the answer "is fairly straightforward: a shift in economic policy toward economic realism that values American producers and manufacturers." The Trump administration, according to Whitley, has made "some contentious decisions" but said that his administration "has been instrumental in fostering investment and growth." Whitley instructed readers to "think back to April" and remember "Liberation Day" and how it "was met with doomsday predictions on both sides of the aisle" as "critics warned that reciprocal tariffs would collapse the world order and create jobs that would be unwanted and unfilled." We are "far from the disaster promised," however, as Whitley proposed "these tariffs have been a market corrective, signaling to the world that the era of American economic passivity and trade deficits are over." On the other hand, Business Insider (Lean Left) focused coverage around the feelings of top economist at Moody's Analytics Mark Zandi, who "isn't feeling great about the economy as 2026 get[s] underway." Zandi was "ringing the alarm all throughout 2025, and he's still convinced that the headlines about strong GDP and a stable economy are masking other issues." While the headlines speak of strong GDP numbers, Zandi cited the weakness he sees in the labor market, and said "that while the US economy is expanding, the growth is fragile" and the question of whether it becomes stronger over 2026 "will largely depend on the Trump administration policies, specifically regarding tariffs and immigration."     

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.