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FTR’s 2025 Transportation Outlook predicts steady growth in spot and contract rates amid a shifting economic and political landscape but cautions that the increases will not be as significant as those of 2020 or 2021 The post Analysts predict gradual rate growth amid shifting economic and political winds appeared first on FreightWaves.

The figures, announced Thursday, marked a clear sign that consumers are still able and willing to shop, and the data bodes well for 2025 even as shoppers remain deal-focused. Retail sales rose 0.4% in December from the previous month, the Commerce Department said, though down from November's upwardly revised 0.8% gain. The figures suggest that even as many Americans are struggling with higher prices and elevated interest rates, a low unemployment rate and rising wages are encouraging millions of consumers to spend, bolstering economic growth.

The global economy is growing steadily in the face of war, protectionist trade policies and high interest rates. It just isn’t growing fast enough to bring relief to the world’s poorest, the World Bank said Thursday in its latest assessment of the global economy. The bank expects the world economy to expand 2.7% in 2025 and again in 2026.

(Bloomberg) -- The World Bank warned that developing economies will face tougher years ahead, with growth globally too slow to boost living standards and a climate of high policy uncertainty deterring advanced-nation investment in poorer countries.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain WhyNYC Commuters Get New Way to Dodge Traffic: $95 Helicopter RidesChicago Agency Pitches $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Transit WoesWill Americans Ever Lose Their Taste for Telew

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. central bank faces no imminent pressure to stop the contraction of its holdings of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, data released by the New York Federal Reserve suggested on Thursday. The regional Fed bank reported that its recently launched Reserve Demand Elasticity measure essentially held steady as of Jan. 7 at -0.04 relative to recent readings and said "the estimate suggests that reserves remain abundant." For the Fed, an abundant reserve level means that liquidity in the financial system remains strong enough that it can continue to shrink its balance sheet by allowing some of the Treasury and mortgage bonds it owns to mature and not be replaced.

"I think on monetary policy decisions, the FOMC should be independent," Scott Bessent told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, referring to the Fed's monetary policysetting panel, the Federal Open Market Committee. "President Trump is going to make his views known," Bessent said, just as senators do when they disagree with what the Fed does with interest rates, but the notion that Trump believes he should have influence over Fed's policymaking by being in the room is "highly inaccurate."

(Bloomberg) -- Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary, said he would support dialing up sanctions on the Russian oil industry to end the war in Ukraine.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain WhyNYC Commuters Get New Way to Dodge Traffic: $95 Helicopter RidesChicago Agency Pitches $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Transit WoesWill Americans Ever Lose Their Taste for Telework?Churches, Cinemas — and Moon Artifacts — Top List of E