Partial closures at key U.S.-Mexico border crossings could cost billions in trade and are causing chaos and political fallout.
The big picture: A massive influx of immigrants at the southern border has led U.S. Customs and Border Protection to divert resources from busy crossings in Arizona and Texas.
A late Super Saturday — the last Saturday before Christmas — is projected to be the second-busiest shopping day of the year, according to Sensormatic Solutions' holiday predictions.
Why it matters: Dec. 23 is both "Christmas Eve eve" and Super Saturday this year, which is expected to drive shoppers to stores and malls to buy last-minute gifts in person.
The Federal Reserve's go-to inflation index declined 0.1% in November, the first monthly drop in overall prices by this measure in over three years.
Why it matters: The data from the Commerce Department is the freshest sign of cooling inflation that came alongside solid consumer spending and rising income.
Call it the Big Whiff — last year at this time, most economists, many journalists and a lot of regular folks felt certain that the U.S. was headed into recession.
Why it matters: We weren't. The failure of the U.S. economy to, well, fail in 2023 was one of the year's biggest and happiest surprises, the top of a list of horribles that failed to materialize.
