This year’s census data will always be associated with a huge ass-terisk because the Trump administration did everything they could to stop the count. But the slow growth in the US population is likely an accurate stat. “Our past decade’s sluggish rate had similar beginnings in the long shadow of the Great Recession. The drawn-out recovery saw many young adults struggling to enter the job market, delaying marriage and starting a family. That dealt a blow to the nation’s birthrate. Then the pandemic hit last year and made matters worse.” AP: Takeaways from census data.