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A new congressional session begins on Friday and, like so many before them, the fresh cohort of lawmakers will have to come to a consensus on what to do about the national debt ceiling. Will they raise it, lower it or get rid of it entirely? We explain. Plus, job seekers use social media to market themselves, a few areas shine in an otherwise so-so construction spending report, and longshoremen stand firm against port automation.

Natural gas prices are creeping up — the commodity leaped recently in futures trading.  That means your January heating bill may be higher than anticipated. In this episode, what makes natural gas prices heat up and why we can’t just pump more in. Plus, Boeing’s New Year’s resolutions for a stronger 2025 and how women might benefit from the “great wealth transfer.”

We called up some economists to get their take on one word to describe this year’s economy. Mostly, experts said things fell somewhere in the middle of excellent and disastrous, but some had cheerier outlooks than others. Also in this episode, we ring in the new year with a 2025 housing market lookahead and a breakdown of the first congestion pricing program in the U.S., coming to New York City Jan. 5.

Pending home sales grew for a fourth-straight month in November and housing supply just hit a four-year high. But that’s partly because many listings are “stale inventory,” sitting on the market for at least 60 days. Also in this episode: An old material used in a new way for climate-friendly high rises, social media budgeters breathe new life into the cash-in-envelopes strategy, and seniors on Medicare will pay less out of pocket for prescriptions starting Jan. 1.