As America celebrates Independence Day, the US economy is powering along

Happy July 4th — here are six charts about the economy.

7/4/25 9:58AM

As you settle in for your second, third — or maybe 70th if your name is Joey Chestnut — hot dog today, you may find yourself unwittingly entered into a conversation about the economy.

To arm you for such an event, here’s some data:

The US economy's H1 2025 — Sherwood News

The reality is that, despite a slew of soft economic data — think surveys and sentiment polls — that spooked investors in the springtime, the world’s largest economy has chugged along just fine. And yesterday’s official labor market data showed that the country added another 147,000 jobs in June. Unemployment fell to just 4.1%, with trade uncertainties yet to meaningfully dent the economic data.

Of course, there are always risks. The “wall of worry” that investors have had to climb in order to get comfortable investing has been pretty substantial, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, continued trade uncertainty, and growing unease over the size of the federal deficit.

Even AI is a double-edged sword, with companies starting to make very real cuts to their workforces.

But dip buyers, both retail and institutional, can’t seem to kick the habit, leaving the S&P 500 Index at a record high just in time for America’s birthday.

Hyunsoo Rim

appy birthday

4/1/26

Apple is turning 50 today and it doesn’t look a thing like its younger self

From Macs to iPods, iPhones, and now services, here’s how Apple’s business has looked every 10 years.

The entrance of Allbirds seen from Hayes St. in San Francisco, Calif.

Allbirds, the once buzzy multibillion-dollar sneaker startup, is selling up for $39 million

That’s less than 1% of its peak market cap about four years ago.

Tom Jones3/31/26

Max Knoblauch3/30/26

JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.