The small-business optimism index fell in February but remained above average. Uncertainty, however, rose to the second-highest level on record.

American consumers’ spending on the luxury market, which includes high-end department stores and online platforms, fell 9.3% in February from a year earlier, worse than the 5.9% decline in January.

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the average household’s credit-card debt surpassed $10,000, adjusted for inflation, for the first time since 2009.

U.S. employers announced 172,017 layoffs for February, up 245% from January and the highest monthly count since July 2020. More than one-third of the total came from the DOGE effort to reduce the federal headcount.

Some 4.8% of 401(k) account holders took early withdrawals last year for reasons such as preventing foreclosure and paying medical bills. That is a record high, up from a prior record of 3.6% in 2023 and a prepandemic average of about 2%.

The top 10% of earners, households making about $250,000 a year or more, now account for 49.7% of all spending, a record in data going back to 1989. Three decades ago, they accounted for about 36%.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that about 55% of in-service distribution transformer units are older than 33 years and approaching their end of life. Distribution transformer capacity might need to increase 160% to 260% by 2050 compared with 2021 levels to meet demand.

Bearishness among individual investors—measured by the percentage who expect stock prices to fall over the next six months—reached 47.3% for the week ended Feb. 12. That is the highest level since November 2023.

About 58 million options changed hands daily on average in January, a monthly record in data going back to 1973. That follows a record year for options trading volumes in 2024.

Just under 900 deals were announced in the U.S. in January. That compares with more than 1,200 transactions in the previous January and over 1,500 two years ago.