A fresh New Year means it’s time to take a fresh look at the state of the economy. The U.S. economy has continued to grow at a stronger pace than expected, which has made many of us wonder what, exactly, happened to all of that recession talk a year ago? At the same time, we’ve also had a spectacular recovery of women in the workforce — with 75% of working-age women now have jobs. Plus, holiday spending late last year reached an all-time high, with Americans spending almost 10% more than they did last year on Cyber Monday.  And yet, Americans are still feeling anxious about the economy. Rana Foroohar, Associate Editor at the Financial Times, joins us to explore why. We also go over her predictions for the state of the 2024 economy, and break down how those movements may impact your wallet.  In Mailbag, we hear from a listener who’s recently widowed and needs advice on where to start learning about personal finance, and we check in with someone with three jobs who has a question about her withholding on tax documents. In our money tip of the week, it’s #engagmentseason – should you be considering a lab-grown diamond?  Take our podcast and community survey! We can't wait to hear what you think. Join us! Snag all the latest episodes, savvy budgeting tips, investing advice and even giveaways via the HerMoney Newsletter at Hermoney.com/subscribe! The HerMoney with Jean Chatzky podcast is sponsored by Edelman Financial Engines. The podcast team and its host are neither employees nor clients of EFE, however, the show does receive fixed compensation and is a paid endorser and therefore has an incentive to endorse EFE and its planners. To learn more about the sponsorship, please visit PlanEFE.com/HerMoney. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast, and to learn more about Airwave, head to www.airwavemedia.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices