{"id":4354,"date":"2026-03-25T14:48:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T14:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/from-k-shaped-to-stagflation-what-economic-buzzwords-mean-for-you-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T14:48:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T14:48:59","slug":"from-k-shaped-to-stagflation-what-economic-buzzwords-mean-for-you-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/from-k-shaped-to-stagflation-what-economic-buzzwords-mean-for-you-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"From 'K-shaped' to 'stagflation.' What economic buzzwords mean for you – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every so often, a new set of economic buzzwords enters\u00a0\u2014 or reenters\u00a0\u2014 the zeitgeist.\u00a0This spring,\u00a0terms like the “K-shaped economy” and “stagflation” are having\u00a0a\u00a0moment.\u00a0
They shape how politicians, pundits, and the media discuss the economy, but their nuances and\u00a0real-world implications\u00a0are often lost in the discourse.\u00a0Stagflation fears, for example, are surfacing as oil prices spike<\/a> due to the U.S.-Israel war against Iran<\/a>, reigniting inflation\u00a0worries. Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said\u00a0he reserved the term for\u00a0a “more serious set of circumstances” than what the nation faces today.
“I always have to point out that that was a\u00a01970s term when unemployment was in double figures, and inflation was super high,” Powell\u00a0told reporters\u00a0on March 18<\/a>.\u00a0“That\u2019s\u00a0not the case right now.”
Still, such\u00a0phrases capture real concerns about\u00a0elevated\u00a0prices<\/a>, a\u00a0slowing job market<\/a>, and\u00a0a widening gap<\/a>\u00a0between high-income\u00a0and low-income households,\u00a0but\u00a0jargon can also obscure\u00a0what economic developments\u00a0mean for everyday Americans.\u00a0
USA TODAY asked experts which terms are defining the U.S. economy in 2026. Here\u00a0are\u00a0some of the most common, and a few to keep in mind for the future:
Feeling broke in a steady economy? <\/strong>Here’s what’s happening<\/a><\/span>
One of the terms with the most buzz, a “K-shaped”\u00a0economy<\/a>,\u00a0is one in which some groups or sectors\u00a0pull ahead\u00a0financially, while others\u00a0fall behind.
It’s\u00a0also\u00a0used to describe\u00a0the post-pandemic\u00a0recovery, when\u00a0high-income earners typically saw\u00a0their wealth and\u00a0assets’ values\u00a0increase. In contrast,\u00a0many low-income earners with few or no investments struggled to keep up\u00a0as prices rose faster than their paychecks.\u00a0
Household wealth\u00a0remains\u00a0concentrated<\/a>\u00a0at the top, with the highest-earning households\u00a0driving\u00a0a larger share of\u00a0consumer spending, while lower-income households\u00a0make purchases\u00a0but account\u00a0for a smaller proportion\u00a0of total spending.\u00a0
“The notion that\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0‘K’ makes it sound like low-end spending is going down. …But that nuance of the proportion of the total gets lost,”\u00a0Head of U.S. Economics at Truist\u00a0Mike\u00a0Skordeles\u00a0said, adding he prefers the term “two-speed economy.”
Stagflation\u00a0represents\u00a0a scenario in which the nation faces\u00a0rising\u00a0inflation,\u00a0rising\u00a0unemployment, and\u00a0stagnant\u00a0economic growth\u00a0all at once.\u00a0
It’s the Federal Reserve’s\u00a0worst-case scenario<\/a>\u00a0as it attempts to balance its dual mandate of low unemployment and stable prices.\u00a0The U.S economy is\u00a0not there yet, but\u00a0economists see some warning signs.\u00a0
Bureau of Labor Statistics data revealed that in February, the unemployment rate\u00a0ticked up to 4.4%<\/a>, still\u00a0generally\u00a0considered healthy\u00a0but higher than a year ago.\u00a0CPI\u00a0inflation\u00a0came in at 2.4%<\/a>\u00a0year-over-year, a figure that did not capture the jump in oil prices driven by the war that some analysts expect will push the number higher in March.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Economic\u00a0Analysis\u00a0found core PCE inflation, which excludes food and energy prices,<\/strong> rose to 3.1% in January \u2013 its highest\u00a0level\u00a0in\u00a0more than\u00a0a year.\u00a0And on March 13, the agency revised its fourth-quarter estimate of GDP growth to 0.7%, down from 4.4% in the previous quarter.
Supply shocks are large and often\u00a0sudden\u00a0shifts in the availability of a good. They’re uncommon, Skordeles said, but the United States has faced several in recent years.\u00a0
During the pandemic, car production slowed due to factory closures and supply chain disruptions, though people kept buying vehicles. Lower supply and steady demand pushed prices higher<\/a>. It’s\u00a0classic supply-and-demand economics.
Today, the halting of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, which typically carries about 20% of the global oil supply, has pushed oil prices \u2014 and\u00a0ultimately gas\u00a0prices at the pump \u2014 higher worldwide.
For months, analysts have dubbed the U.S. labor market a \u201clow-hire, low-fire”\u00a0environment, meaning companies are neither quick to let go of employees nor\u00a0eager to\u00a0bring\u00a0many new ones\u00a0on board.\u00a0
\u201cI don\u2019t think companies really know the impact of AI on employment either,\u201d\u00a0Thrivent Chief Financial and Investment Officer David Royal\u00a0previously\u00a0told USA TODAY<\/a>. \u201cThey\u2019re\u00a0not ready to let people go, but they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0want to hire a bunch of people because\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0not sure\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0going to need them.\u201d\u00a0
Job gains\u00a0have been\u00a0concentrated in sectors<\/a> like health care, social\u00a0assistance, and private education, meaning those looking for work outside of those industries\u00a0often face a more\u00a0difficult search.\u00a0\u00a0
Workers have noticed,\u00a0clinging to their jobs<\/a> in fear they\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0find another.
Feeling stuck in a job you don’t want? <\/strong>You’re not alone. Here’s why<\/a><\/span>
One of the most\u00a0common words\u00a0used to describe U.S. economic conditions over the\u00a0past year has been \u201cuncertain.\u201d\u00a0
Evolving tariff policy<\/a>, an unclear\u00a0timeline for the ongoing war with Iran<\/a>, stock-market volatility<\/a>, a rise in AI\u00a0adoption<\/a>, the 2026 midterm elections<\/a>, and\u00a0worries\u00a0about potential asset price corrections down the\u00a0road\u00a0make the\u00a0future\u00a0hard to predict for economists.\u00a0
“There\u2019s a lot of economic uncertainty, market uncertainty, political uncertainty, and it\u2019s all coming together right now, and we just don\u2019t have the normal breadth of growth or strong foundations for the growth story that we would like to have had going into this sort of situation,”\u00a0ING Chief International Economist James Knightley\u00a0said.\u00a0
Skordeles\u00a0defines a haven as “a place to run and hide.”\u00a0
They\u2019re\u00a0typically\u00a0investments\u00a0including\u00a0U.S. Treasury bonds<\/a>,\u00a0physical gold<\/a>, and\u00a0defensive stocks<\/a>, or shares in\u00a0companies that provide consumer staples, he said.\u00a0
Given persistent uncertainty, investors have flocked to all three over the past year.\u00a0Bankrate Financial Analyst Stephen Kates\u00a0said for the average consumer looking for a haven in today\u2019s\u00a0environment, high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit are good options.
“For the average person going into something that\u00a0not just is\u00a0safe, but\u00a0feels safe because you understand it and it\u2019s comfortable,\u00a0I think those two fit the bill,”\u00a0Kates\u00a0said. “Banks, FDIC insurance, relative guarantees on that money \u2013 that can be one of the most beneficial safe havens.”
\u201cAffordability\u201d and \u201cthe affordability crisis\u201d are terms that shaped political campaigns<\/a> in 2025 and continue to do so in 2026, as Americans struggle to afford groceries<\/a>, healthcare<\/a>, and housing<\/a>.
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment\u00a0index in November dropped to\u00a051,\u00a0one of its lowest levels<\/a>\u00a0on record. While it\u00a0has\u00a0climbed back up\u00a0since,\u00a0the survey\u2019s preliminary March results showed it fell to\u00a055.5,\u00a0its lowest reading\u00a0of 2026.\u00a0
“A big portion\u00a0of this is\u00a0perception.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0not that people are wrong. Things do cost more than they used\u00a0to,”\u00a0Kates\u00a0said. “Price levels are far higher than they were prior to COVID<\/a> or even midway through COVID, and those price changes happen so rapidly that people are still anchored to those old prices. They remember and\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0sour about it, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0hurting people.”
American dream meant upward mobility. <\/strong>Now, it means stability.<\/a><\/span>
The federal funds rate is\u00a0the\u00a0interest rate banks charge to borrow from each other overnight. The Federal Reserve\u2019s Federal Open Market Committee sets a target range for the rate eight times each year, based on economic indicators such as inflation and the unemployment rate.\u00a0
That range serves as a benchmark for interest rates across the country,\u00a0including\u00a0for auto loans, mortgages,\u00a0student loan debt<\/a>,\u00a0credit card debt,\u00a0and savings accounts.\u00a0Higher rates\u00a0can help tame inflation and allow savers to earn more interest on their accounts, while lower rates can help stimulate the economy by decreasing borrowing costs.
At its last meeting on March 18, the committee opted to hold it steady<\/a> at a range of 3.5% to 3.75% as officials weighed the economic impact of the war. President Donald Trump<\/a> made persistent calls for lower rates, which would help\u00a0reduce interest on\u00a0the national debt, but Powell has made clear<\/a> the Fed makes its decisions based on data, not the president’s preferences.
While the stock market<\/a> is typically labeled a “bear market” when prices are falling or a “bull market” when prices are rising, some analysts say the market in early 2026 looks more like a “kangaroo market,” where stock prices jump up and down, often driven by sentiment or the latest news.
An easy way to remember the difference is to think about the animals’ actions. A bear swipes its paws down when it attacks, while a bull thrusts its horns upward. A kangaroo hops.
Skordeles said if there is one thing people are talking about today that they will still be talking about in a year, it’s job growth \u2014 or the lack thereof.
“The six-month average is a minus 1,000. …We’re basically staying black,” he said, adding 12 months from now, economists will be “talking about job growth, not about the Strait of Hormuz, and it’s likely that it will have re-accelerated by then.”
Knightley is keeping an eye on private credit<\/a>.
“This opaqueness as to where this funding is coming from, who owns it, what’s the actual quality of this stuff?” Knightley said. “We just don’t know really with real certainty, and that is a risk.”
Kates said the term “Social Security” will soon need to reenter the national conversation, as the Congressional Budget Office now expects<\/a> the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, one of two funds used to pay Social Security benefits, will be depleted in 2032, a year earlier than projected.
Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her on X @rachelbarber_<\/em><\/p>\n

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Every so often, a new set of economic buzzwords enters\u00a0\u2014 or reenters\u00a0\u2014 the zeitgeist.\u00a0This spring,\u00a0terms like the “K-shaped economy” and “stagflation” are having\u00a0a\u00a0moment.\u00a0They shape how politicians, pundits, and the media discuss the economy, but their nuances and\u00a0real-world implications\u00a0are often lost in the discourse.\u00a0Stagflation fears, for example, are surfacing as oil prices spike due to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4354","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}