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A humming American economy ended 2024 on a solid note with consumer spending continuing to drive growth, and ahead of what could be a significant change in direction under a Trump administration. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product — the economy's output of goods and services — expanded at a 2.3% annual rate from October through December. The fourth-quarter growth was a tick below the 2.4% economists had expected, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's economic growth may falter at under 2.9% this year after a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter despite a vaunted government cash handout aimed at firing up sluggish growth, the central bank chief said on Thursday. The Bank of Thailand previously anticipated that the economy could expand by 2.9% this year, lower than the finance ministry's projection of 3% growth. "I have to say that there is some downside risk to that figure," Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput told Reuters in an interview.

The denim brand shrugged off tariffs thanks to its diverse sourcing, but warned its outlook could sour if inflation and other pressures worsen.

Some of the world's smallest economies, especially in Africa, could be at increased risk of being unable to pay their debts in the medium term, even as developing nations have emerged from a series of sovereign defaults, financial adviser Lazard said. Investors do not expect more sovereign defaults in 2025, but credit metrics for smaller and riskier countries, known as frontier markets, point to a structural weakening, especially for governments in Africa, Thomas Lambert, of Lazard's sovereign advisory team, said. Markets expect it to be steady until June as Donald Trump's second administration has left the policy backdrop extremely uncertain.

It will be a difficult year for scenario planning, says Dennis Lockhart.

Trump is trying to institutionalize a libertarian government that will require more self-sufficiency. Are voters ready?

During the disorienting flurry of Trump's executive orders, Fed Chair Powell issued an edict of his own. He's defending the borders of his job's mandate.