Trump’s economy takes walloping with bleak report: ‘Big downgrade’

A bleak report released Friday showed the U.S. economy under the Trump administration grew by less than 1% last fall, a “big downgrade” from economists’ earlier projections and a troubling sign for the months ahead, NBC News reported.

From October to late December last year – 2025’s fourth quarter – the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew by just 0.7%, exactly half of what the federal government had first estimated, and far below economists’ expectations. For comparison, the third quarter of 2025 saw 4.4% GDP growth, and the second quarter, 3.8%.

The cause for the slow GDP growth – which NBC News described as “sluggish” – was multifaceted, the outlet reported. Last year’s 43-day government shutdown – which “clobbered” federal spending – was named responsible for at least 1.16 percentage points in reduced GDP growth.

The Trump administration’s ongoing military operation against Iran was also named for its impact on oil prices – which have surged to levels not seen since 2022 – and for having “clouded the economic outlook.”

Coupled with abysmal job numbers — the Department of Labor's most recent report showed the "weakest hiring outside recession years since 2002" — the latest GDP growth figures have left economists "puzzling" over where the U.S. economy will be in the months ahead.