#GDP

#GDP

The first estimation of first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) shows the impact of the war in the Middle East, which began on February 28th.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

Claim: There's not much manufacturing. If you look at the UK, about 25 years ago no, about 1995 I think it was about 25% of our GDP was manufacturing, and Germany was about the same, 25%. So we're going back what, 30 years? Today Germany's still up there, 20-21% of its GDP is manufacturing, in the UK it's down at about 8%. So manufacturing's collapsed in the UK.

California has regained its bragging-rights ranking as the world's fourth-largest economy. Using gross domestic product as the scorecard, my trusty spreadsheet compared fresh state-level data for the third quarter of 2025 from the Bureau of Economic Analysis with 2025 business output estimates for countries compiled by the International Monetary Fund, released in October. In the third quarter, California's economy produced goods and services at a nation-leading annual rate of $4.296 trillion a 4.5% increase from the previous year, according to the BEA.

It makes for a weaker starting point, as companies see new opportunities around the corner to use AI to automate their work. It's not a new trend: These sectors showed weak job creation or outright job losses for the last couple of years of the Biden administration. But it is striking that a GDP surge fueled by data center and AI investment hasn't been enough to generate more robust hiring.

Reality check: At the end of July Lutnick posted to X that "the Trump Economy has officially arrived," citing a strong GDP report. Since then, a combination of weak jobs data and hot inflation reports has painted a very different picture of an economy struggling to grow. Just Thursday, the Consumer Price Index showed inflation rising for a fourth consecutive month, while initial jobless claims were the highest in years.

The Economist's formula ranks countries based on various measures of wealth, concluding that there isn't a single richest nation, but several contenders including Switzerland, Singapore, and Norway.