Washington, D.C. — After one year of President Donald Trump’s second administration, Americans are facing higher costs of living and fewer opportunities, according to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress. Chaotic tariff policies, weakening job growth, and deep cuts to health care, food assistance, and clean energy have driven up costs for families while shrinking economic opportunity. Nearly 70 percent of Americans now say they expect 2026 to be a year of economic difficulty.
“President Trump promised lower prices and a stronger economy. But a year in, Americans are paying more for groceries, housing, health care, and utilities while facing fewer job opportunities,” said Natalie Baker, director of economic analysis at CAP and a co-author of the analysis. “This administration’s economic agenda is making life less affordable for working families.”
CAP’s analysis finds that President Trump’s first year in office made life less affordable for Americans in several key ways:
- Tariffs raised prices across the economy. The Trump administration’s tariffs drove sharp price increases for everyday goods such as clothing (up 14 percent) compared with trends before tariffs while adding roughly $17,500 to the cost of building a new home. Altogether, the administration’s tariffs will cost the average household $1,700 per year.
- Grocery prices remained elevated. Food prices rose at their fastest monthly pace since fall 2022 in December 2025, with a typical grocery basket costing about 5 percent more than a year earlier; nearly half of Americans reported difficulty affording food.
- The labor market weakened. The unemployment rate rose from 4.0 percent in January 2025 to 4.4 percent by December 2025, leaving 638,000 more workers unemployed, while total job growth fell to just 584,000 jobs, the weakest year outside a recession since 2003.
- Health care costs spiked. Letting the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits expire means 2026 marketplace premiums were expected to rise 114 percent on average. That contributed to 1.4 million fewer Americans selecting marketplace coverage, and enrollment is expected to fall as consumers realize their premium costs have spiked.
- Utility bills climbed nationwide. Nearly every state faces higher utility bills or proposed rate increases totaling almost $86 billion by 2028, with electricity prices rising at 2.5 times the inflation rate in 2025.
Higher prices, fewer jobs, and rising insecurity are the defining features of the Trump administration’s economic record, leaving American families paying more and getting less.
Read the analysis: “A Year in Review: How the Trump Administration’s Economic Policies Made Life Less Affordable for Americans,” by Kennedy Andara, Amina Khalique, Natalie Baker, Sara Estep, Natasha Murphy, and Akshay Thyagarajan.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Christian Unkenholz at [email protected].