Babies: The birth rate in the US went up last year

5/24/22 8:00PM

The birth rate in the US rose last year, for the first time since 2014, with more than 3.65 million babies born in America in 2021 according to preliminary data from the CDC. That's up around 1% on the previous year, and reverses a seven-year trend of falling births.

The rise in births means that, despite a marked increase in total deaths from COVID in the last two years, the US population naturally grew by around 198,000 people in 2021. That's the lowest margin between the two that we could find data for (thanks WSJ for the inspiration for this chart).

‍Baby boom?

‍Although a 1% rise is significant, it's not exactly the "baby boom" that some had joked about during the early days of the pandemic. The total fertility rate - which estimates the average number of babies a woman would have over a typical lifetime - was 1.66, below the widely-accepted figure of 2.1 that would keep a population in a steady state over multiple generations (not growing or declining).

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.