The Economy
The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, the lowest rate seen since 1969.1
The current economic expansion became the single longest in history, growing for 126 consecutive months since the Great Recession.2
About 2 million Americans found new jobs.3
Top Trends
Computer storage and data processing moved back from the cloud to the edge to improve performance.4
Motorola launched the 5G phone, bringing mobile speeds over 5x times faster than 4G.5
Artificial intelligence (AI) became the new “big data,” creating advancements in nearly all industries.6
The Markets
The Dow set a new highest-ever closing record of 28,645.26 on December 27.7
The S&P 500 hit a new all-time record close of 3,240.02 on December 27.8
Stocks ended 2019 up 28.9%.9
The bull market passed the 10-year mark in March, becoming the longest bull market in U.S. history.10
Sports
The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams in a 13-3 victory, marking the 6th Super Bowl win for the Patriots and the lowest-ever final score in Super Bowl history.11
Rafael Nadal won his 19th career Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.12
The St. Louis Blues won their first-ever Stanley Cup, defeating the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7.13
The Washington Nationals won the World Series, defeating the Houston Astros 6-2 in Game 7.14
Science & Technology
Astronomers captured the first-ever photo of a black hole.15
Scientists mapped an uncharted part of the human genome linked to diseases.16
3 new Earth-sized planets were discovered just 12 light-years away.17
Researchers created the first-ever 3D-printed heart, using patient cells.18
Arts & Culture
Netflix made major waves at the 91st Academy Awards, winning 3 Oscars for the first time—marking another major win for streaming services.19
Several animal species bounced back from the brink of extinction, including the Fin Whale, the Amsterdam Albatross, the Northern Bald Iris, and the Round Island Day Gecko.20
U.S. and global poverty rates continued their downward trend. In fact, 2019 saw the lowest prevalence of extreme poverty ever recorded in human history—less than 8%.21
Records Broken
Gymnast Simone Biles broke 2 world records at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, becoming the first person to nail the double-double dismount and the first person to stick the landing on a historic triple-double.22
More than 600 divers in Florida held the biggest ocean cleanup event ever, removing more than 9,000 pieces of debris from the ocean.23
The world’s oldest living person, a Japanese woman, celebrated her 116th birthday.24
The world’s oldest living land animal, a tortoise named Jonathan, celebrated his 187th birthday.25
