A lot happens in any given year, but especially in presidential election years. In 2024, inflation came down, Donald Trump won office for a second time (and the market reacted) and some other major economic changes occurred.
Heading into 2025, it helps to know what’s happened in 2024. While these major changes aren’t necessarily signs of what’s to come, they certainly can be.
Here are five big things that happened to the economy in 2024.
Check Out: The Trump Economy Begins: 4 Money Moves Retirees Should Make Before Inauguration Day
Read Next: Renting vs. Owning a Home: Which Will Be Cheaper in 2025?
Investors and individuals alike have been worried about inflation, especially in recent years. In June 2022, inflation reached 9.1%, according to the BLS. A year later, it was around 3%.
By September of 2024, it’d fallen to 2.4%. Considering the target inflation rate is between 2% and 3%, this is surprisingly good news for U.S. consumers.
Learn More: The Salary Needed To Afford America’s 50 Biggest Cities
What happened on Nov. 5, 2024, can’t be overlooked either. After all, it was a pivotal day in American history — and it had quite an impact on markets, at least in the short term.
In reaction to Trump’s win, the S&P 500’s earnings grew by 13% over the year. On election day, earnings were at $5,783. Less than a week later, they were at $6,001 and have been steadily increasing since.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury securities (10-year constant maturity) also went up. On Nov. 4, it was at 4.31. The day after the election, it was at 4.42.
Bitcoin has also seen a significant increase. On Nov. 4, it was at $69,122. The day after the election, it’d risen to $74,446 and has continued to rise ever since. This could be for any number of reasons, one of which could be that the cryptocurrency industry is currently anticipating deregulation under the Trump administration.
Not all major market changes were a direct result of the presidential election, though that’s certainly had an impact on many areas of the economy.
Earnings for the largest U.S. companies rose by 5.8% over the past 12 months. Wall Street, by comparison, only expected a 3.5% increase. Many industries have continued to outperform their previously anticipated rates but tech in particular has thrived, accounting for 30% of the total S&P 500 index’s earnings growth.
Notably, commodities like gold (up 4.2%) and oil (up 4%) also rose higher than ever these past few months. Other areas that have seen significant increases this year include multiples (11% expansion), U.S. large cap equities (25% growth), high-yield bonds (8% increase), Bitcoin (12% increase) and private credit (8% growth).
