By MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy rose to 79 years in 2024 — the highest mark in American history.

It’s the result of not only the dissipation of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also waning death rates from all the nation’s top killers, including heart disease, cancer and drug overdoses.

What’s more, preliminary statistics suggest a continued improvement in 2025.

“It’s pretty much good news all the way around,” said Robert Anderson, of the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the 2024 data on Thursday.

Related Articles

Kennedy Center’s head of artistic programming steps down 2 weeks after taking the job

A former Illinois deputy is sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing Sonya Massey

Crews race to restore power, open roads as the US South braces for another blast of dangerous cold

Microsoft weighs on Wall Street as gold’s price keeps setting records

US applications for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, tick down to 209,000 last week

Life expectancy, a fundamental measure of a population’s health, is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live, given death rates at that time.

For decades, U.S. life expectancy rose at least a little bit almost every year, thanks to medical advances and public health measures. It peaked in 2014, just shy of 79 years.

It was relatively flat for several years before plunging as the COVID-19 pandemic killed more than 1.2 million Americans. In 2021, life expectancy fell to just under 76 1/2 years. It has been rebounding since.

The data reflect not only a complete turnaround from the pandemic but also a lasting improvement in the drug overdose epidemic, said Andrew Stokes, a researcher at Boston University.

The bad news is that the U.S. still ranks below dozens of other countries, Stokes noted.

“There’s a lot more to be done,” he said.

In 2024, about 3.07 million U.S. residents died, about 18,000 fewer than the year before. Death rates declined across all racial and ethnic groups, and in both men and women.

Heart disease remained the nation’s leading cause of death, but the death rate due to it dropped by about 3% for the second year in a row. A combination of factors are likely at play, including advances in medical treatments and weight management, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, who treats and studies heart disease at Northwestern University.

Deaths from unintentional injuries — a category that includes drug overdoses — fell the most, dropping more than 14% in 2024. COVID-19, which only a few years ago was the nation’s No. 3 killer, in 2024 dropped out of the top 10.

COVID-19’s fall meant suicide moved into the top 10, even though suicides in 2024 declined. Homicides fell that year, too, this week’s report said.

Deaths statistics for 2025 are not finalized, but preliminary data suggest around 3.05 million deaths have been recorded. That number may grow as more death certificates are rounded up and analyzed, but Anderson said he expects last year will end up at least a slight improvement over 2024.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate edged up for the second week in a row, but remains just above its lowest level in more than three years.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.1% from 6.09% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.95%.

Related Articles

Microsoft weighs on Wall Street as gold’s price keeps setting records

4 ways to relaunch your finances in 2026

US applications for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, tick down to 209,000 last week

Dow to cut about 4,500 jobs as emphasis shifts to AI and automation

Tesla made smallest annual profit since the pandemic, plans to spend big on robotaxis and robots

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week. That average rate inched up to 5.49% from 5.44% last week. A year ago, it was at 6.12%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.24% at midday Thursday, just below where it was a week ago.

By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP National Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) — When American speedskater Erin Jackson won the 500 meters at the Beijing Games four years ago, she knew, of course, that it was her first Olympic medal. She also was aware that it had been a while — 28 years, to be exact — since a woman from the U.S. finished first in that event.

What she had no idea about until days later: Jackson was the first Black woman, from any country, to claim an individual gold medal, in any sport, at any Winter Olympics.

Jackson definitely does not want to be the last.

“It was just really surprising, I guess, because I felt like, ‘How could that be?’” she said in an interview with The Associated Press at the U.S. Speedskating trials ahead of the Milan Cortina Games. “When you think about how many Winter Olympics we’ve had, I just thought it was really strange. I hope people can see my story and the stories of other Black women in winter sports and then, hopefully, we’ll have more coming up soon.”

They’re not there yet.

The 33-year-old Jackson is the only Black athlete among the 21 speedskaters on the long track and short track squads for the United States at these Olympics, although this could be the most diverse Winter Games roster the country’s had overall.

“I can’t imagine being a younger kid watching the Olympic Games and never seeing somebody that looked like me do what I’m trying to do,” said U.S. speedskater Brittany Bowe, a two-time bronze medalist. “For her to be able to do that, and she is now that face for young Black girls to be able to look up and say, ’She can do it? Now I can do it’ — it’s monumental.”

Bowe famously gave up her spot in the 500 four years ago to her longtime friend after Jackson slipped at the trials; an extra U.S. berth later opened up, allowing both to race in China.

Jackson, already the first Black woman to win a World Cup 500, took full advantage. She was focused on the piece of metal she wanted dangling from her neck, not the historical significance.

“We didn’t even think about that at the time. I didn’t even realize it until a day or two later,” U.S. Speedskating national team coach Ryan Shimabukuro said. “She’s proud of it, obviously. And I’m proud of her for it. But we didn’t really think about that, as much as: What is the best way to skate the fastest?”

These days, though, increasing the kinds of faces seen in her sport is one of Jackson’s goals, along with bringing home more hardware from Italy, where she’ll compete in the 500 and 1,000 after winning both distances at the trials despite being about a month removed from a torn left hamstring.

Related Articles

Diggins opens her final Olympic chapter with momentum

Maxim Naumov heads to Olympics, hoping to honor his parents and the others killed in airline crash

Italy’s Ladins take visibility into their own hands facing minimal exposure in Olympic celebrations

Captain America vs. Captain Clutch: Knight and Poulin face off for 5th and perhaps last Winter Games

US sending ICE unit to Winter Olympics for security, prompting concern and confusion in Italy

“I just hope that I can help other people of color get involved in winter sports and speedskating. … It’s really important to see people like you achieving something, because then maybe that can inspire you to try the same things,” said Jackson, who grew up in Ocala, Florida, and was a top inline skater before switching to the ice four months before qualifying for the 2018 Olympic speedskating team.

“I just always want to be a good example,” she said, “or someone who other people can look to.”

When she’s done competing, Jackson intends to set up a foundation modeled after EDGE Outdoors, a group based in Washington state that helps provide scholarships for minority women to get into skiing and snowboarding. Jackson has worked with them, reviewing scholarship applications. She also has been involved with the Utah-based Sisters in Sports Foundation, which offers mentorship and funding for female athletes with disabilities.

“One of the biggest issues with winter sports is there is a really big barrier to entry around cost. They’re really expensive sports to get into,” Jackson said. “That kind of limits the talent we can have and the people who can give it a shot.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has informed Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez that he’s going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela and Americans will soon be able to visit.

Trump said Thursday he instructed U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and U.S. military leaders to open up the airspace by the end of the day.

The Republican president says, “American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they’ll be safe there.”

Related Articles

Trump eyes basing his new Board of Peace at a Washington building in legal limbo

Melania Trump’s documentary premieres at the Kennedy Center ahead of global release

Democrats are poised to trigger government shutdown if White House won’t meet demands for ICE reform

FBI raid in Georgia highlights Trump’s 2020 election obsession and hints at possible future actions

Escape from Washington? Senators look to start new chapters as governors

Earlier this week, Trump’s Republican administration notified Congress that it was taking the first steps to possibly reopen the shuttered U.S. Embassy in Venezuela as it explores restoring relations with the South American country following the U.S. military raid that ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.

In a notice to lawmakers dated Monday and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the State Department said it was sending in a regular and growing contingent of temporary staffers to conduct “select” diplomatic functions.

“We are writing to notify the committee of the Department of State’s intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume Embassy Caracas operations,” the department said in separate but identical letters to 10 House and Senate committees.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries collapsed in 2019, and the U.S. State Department warned Americans shouldn’t travel to Venezuela, raising its travel advisory to the highest level.

The State Department on Thursday still listed a travel advisory for Venezuela at its highest level, “Do not travel,” warning that Americans face a high risk of wrongful detention, torture, kidnapping and more.