Why the US Economy Suddenly Looks Shaky (Level 1)

The United States economy is slowing down. Until recently, it was growing very fast. However, new numbers show that growth has dropped from 4.4% to just 1.4%. There are three main reasons for this change. First, the government spent less money because it shut down for over a month. Second, families are buying fewer things. People spent a lot of their savings earlier in the year because they were worried prices would go up. Now, they have less money left to spend. Third, trade with other countries did not help the economy grow as much as expected. Prices are also rising again. Inflation is higher than the banks want it to be. At the same time, a high court decided that some new taxes on foreign goods are against the law. Even though companies are still spending money on new technology like AI, the economy looks shaky right now.