Economics in the News – Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2026
Economics impacts our lives every day. Below are some of the top storylines from this past week related to economics.
o Due to immigration sinking more than 50 percent and a continuation of a two-decade long decline in the birth rate, the United States population grew at one its slowest rates in its history last year. The population increased by 1.8 million last year, a growth rate of 0.5 percent – the lowest since 2021. The census population estimates are from June 30, 2024 to July 1, 2025.
Immigration was more than cut in half, as it added 1.3 million to the US population. That compares to 2.7 million added via the 2024 immigration figures when former-President Joe Biden was in office. This year, experts project that it will continue to plummet, falling to 321,000 for the year ending at the end of the second quarter. The country needs a large enough population of young workers and taxpayers to finance care for the country’s most vulnerable. [The New York Times]
o While most of the East Coast of the United States has been experiencing snow and ice over the last two weeks, it’s a different story for ski resorts out west. For many ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains, the 2026 ski season is shaping up to be one of the worst in decades. The region has been hit with a historic snow drought, causing skiers to cancel reservations and having a significant economic impact on mountain towns. To make matters worse, foreign skiers are opting not to come to the United States due to geopolitical tensions.
Ski resorts in Colorado and Utah traditionally open near Thanksgiving, but this year, average temperatures in November and December were their warmest in 130 years of record keeping. As a result, only 11 percent of the terrain at Western ski areas were able to open. The snow drought has extended to Utah, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, with snow monitoring stations reporting snowpack in the 20th percentile. In addition, the cost of living in ski towns is skyrocketing, and resorts are increasingly threatened by labor disputes. [The New York Times]
o Super Bowl LX will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., the home of the San Francisco 49ers with a matchup pitting the New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks. While the game will be played close to San Jose, it’s San Francisco – which is 40 miles away – reaping all of the benefits. While San Jose is hosting Super Bowl Opening Night, San Francisco is hosting the Pro Bowl Games, a Super Bowl innovation summit, the NFL awards show, and numerous concerts.
Organizers say the reasoning is that San Francisco has a larger convention center and more hotel rooms. At the 2016 Super Bowl – the first held at Levi’s Stadium – a study found that San Francisco saw 57 percent of the economic benefit that comes with hosting a Super Bowl, while San Jose saw 12 percent and Santa Clara saw seven percent. San Jose, the focal area of Silicon Valley, is larger than San Francisco and has better weather with roughly 300 days of sun a year. [The Wall Street Journal]
o Is a college education still worth the cost? Since the 1970’s, statistics have shown that higher education degrees led to better employment prospects and job security, as well as higher pay. However, federal data suggests that’s changing as more companies are embracing artificial intelligence.
Workers with a bachelor's degree or higher had a 2.8 percent unemployment rate in December, while the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent for those with some college or an associate’s degree. And 4.0 percent for high school graduates. It marks the narrowest the gaps have been since the 1970s. With the difficulty in the labor market, especially for entry-level applicants, combined with the soaring cost of college, more young people are considering alternative routes to a traditional four-year degree. [The Washington Post]
o President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Warsh, if approved by the Senate, would succeed current Fed chair Jerome Powell, who has served since Trump nominated him in 2017. Warsh would step into a role at a time where the Fed’s longtime independence is being questioned by Trump, who has consistently demanded lower interest rates that waned the relationship between Powell and Trump.
Warsh was a member of the Fed’s board from 2006 to 2011, serving as the youngest governor in history when he was appointed at age 35. He has long supported higher interest rates to control inflation, even objecting to some of the low-rate policies pursued by the Fed during and after the mid-2000s Great Recession. His approval by the Senate is uncertain, as North Carolina Republican senator Thom Tillis has said he will oppose Warsh until the Justice Department investigation into Powell is resolved. Democrats have also accused Warsh of changing his views in order to appease Trump. [Associated Press]
