Charting the global economy: Rocky start to year for US growth

In India, the fastest-expanding major economy, economic growth quickened to close out 2024 on a pickup in government spending and strong rural-area consumption.

Here are some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week on the latest developments in the global economy, markets and geopolitics:

US
US consumers unexpectedly pulled back on spending on goods like cars in January amid extreme winter weather, and a slowdown in services, if sustained, may raise concerns about the resilience of the economy.
The US merchandise trade deficit widened dramatically in January to a record as imports surged ahead of President Donald Trump’s promised tariffs. The shortfall ballooned 25.6% to $153.3 billion. Between the trade and consumer spending data, gross domestic product is seen declining an annualized 1.5% in the current quarter, down from the 2.3% projected pace of growth expected just days ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s latest GDPNow forecast.
The chief executive officer of Walmart Inc. said American consumers are showing signs of stress as food prices remain stubbornly high. Some shoppers are running out of money before the end of the month and turning to smaller pack sizes for consumer goods, Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon told executives at the Economic Club of Chicago.

• Artificial Intelligence(AI)

  Java Programming with ChatGPT: Learn using Generative AI

  By — Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer

• Artificial Intelligence(AI)

  Basics of Generative AI: Unveiling Tomorrows