Examples of secular economic trends might be related to population growth or the relative aging of the population. The cost of extracting a barrel of oil is another example. The low hanging fruit has been picked, so to speak. While new extraction technology extends the usefulness of oil fields and while new finds are made, the costs are ever higher.

The contrasting trends are short term. For example trends tied to economic cycle like unemployment rates. Another is the gasoline price gyrations based on umpteen factors. Or, the price of "beanie babies" before Christmas when that was a fad.