Marketplace

Unemployment fell in December close to a pre-pandemic low. But the economy added far fewer jobs than economists expected. So what gives? It has to do with the two different surveys that make up the monthly jobs report and how they define “employment.”   More

One year ago, supporters of Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent and deadly attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Today, we revisit the economic ripples of the Jan.   More

Though the United Kingdom formally ended its European Union membership at the start of 2020, last week marked the one-year anniversary of the U.K. severing remaining ties with the EU. Today, we hear about the hopes, frustrations and economic outlooks of five small U.K.-based   More

While a group of GOP-led states is currently pushing against NASDAQ board diversity requirements, some corporations have already ramped up their diversification efforts. The number of directors from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups jumped by 25% in 2021, and women now make up almost 30% of directors among Russell 3000 Index companies.   More

California is home to nearly one-quarter of the country’s homeless population, a count that has likely grown during the pandemic. Last year, the mayor of Sacramento — home to 11,000 people without homes — proposed a radical solution to the city’s homelessness crisis: treat housing as a legal right.   More

Even if it may not feel like it amid spiking COVID-19 cases, we are in a very different world — and economy — than the one we were in a year ago.   More

In late November, commissioners in Montgomery County — located north of Houston — voted to return $7 million in unused federal rent relief. But some renters there are still facing eviction, and many have found it difficult to access county- and state-level COVID relief funds.   More

A little over a year ago, the first American received a COVID-19 vaccine. Now, we’re averaging more than 250,000 positive COVID cases per day. This year has been … a lot.   More

The pandemic has exacerbated the country’s opioid crisis. More than 100,000 people in the United States died from drug overdoses last year in the highest one-year death toll on record. Today, we take a look at a recently expanded program in California, one that utilizes medically assisted treatment in emergency rooms and is becoming a model for other programs around the nation.   More

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the recommended isolation period for people who get COVID-19 from 10 days to five. Still, COVID cases are surging with the spread of the omicron variant.   More

At the start of 2022, more than 50 jurisdictions are slated to raise their minimum wage rates, many to $15 an hour or more. Despite widespread support for increased minimum wages and years-long activism, efforts to boost the minimum wage at the federal level have largely stalled.   More

Before the pandemic, roughly a quarter of schools in the United States didn’t employ a school nurse at all, and less than half employed nurses full time. Now, many of those nurses are adding contract tracing and COVID-19 testing to their already lengthy list of duties to keep kids healthy.   More

It won’t appear as an additional tax or fee on a receipt, but if you’re single in the U.S., you’re paying more than your married peers. That’s because policies and programs, from Social Security to the tax code, were written when it was assumed that Americans would get and stay married.   More

When you head to an outdoorsy town or resort community to get away from it all, it can be easy to forget the people who live and work there full time, ensuring that the place runs smoothly.   More

How much pull on the economy can one man have? Quite a bit, it turns out. On Sunday, Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, announced that he would not be supporting the Build Back Better Act, citing inflation concerns.   More

Remember just a few weeks back, when we didn’t know whether this new COVID-19 variant was pronounced ah-micron or oh-micron? However you say it, it’s at the doorstep and ready to barge into the economy.   More

In case you haven’t heard … prices? They’re higher these days. That’s not terribly surprising, given the global supply chain debacle, but it turns out a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic has an impact, too.   More

As part of a COVID-19 relief package last spring, Congress expanded the federal child tax credit and started sending it out in monthly installments. For many families, the extra couple of hundred dollars each month has provided a cushion for emergencies or has been spent on essentials, like rent and utilities.   More

The producer price index came out today and — no surprise — inflation is hitting the folks who make the products we buy, too. The Federal Reserve is meeting today, but what exactly can it do to address rising prices?   More

After devastating tornadoes swept through Kentucky last week, killing dozens and destroying thousands of homes, displaced residents are left wondering where to go. Kentucky already had a shortage of affordable housing, with 30% of the state’s renters at or below the poverty line.   More