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Samantha Fields

Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Samantha Fields is a senior reporter at Marketplace.

She’s particularly interested in how the economy affects people’s everyday lives, and a lot of her coverage focuses on economic inequality, housing and climate change.

She’s also reported and produced for WCAI and The GroundTruth Project, the “NPR Politics Podcast,” NPR’s midday show, “Here & Now,” Vermont Public Radio and Maine Public Radio. She got her start in journalism as a reporter for a community paper, The Wellesley Townsman, and her start in radio as an intern and freelance producer at “The Takeaway” at WNYC. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Latest Stories (574)

Why are mortgage rates going up again?

Oct 9, 2024
It's all about expectations. Mortgage rates fell in anticipation of the Fed cutting interest rates. But then came the strong September jobs report.
That strong jobs report last week likely helped push mortgage rates back up.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Long-term care is too expensive for most people

Oct 9, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing Medicare take on these costs, as most Americans rely instead on unpaid care from family.
“Paying for care at home can be in the order of tens of thousands of dollars," said Tricia Neuman at the health policy nonprofit KFF.
xavierarnau/Getty Images

It's really time to start repaying your student loans ... again

Sep 30, 2024
Today marks the end of the one-year grace period the Biden administration tacked on to the federal government's pandemic pause of student loan repayment.
The student loan system has been in constant flux since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Mortgage rates are falling. Will it offer buyers any relief?

Sep 25, 2024
It all depends on what happens with home prices.
Mortgage rates fell in anticipation of the Fed's interest rate cut last week.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Strong local economies help power home price increases in NYC, Las Vegas

Sep 24, 2024
Prices in New York and Las Vegas both grew more than 8% last month, according to the Case-Shiller Index.
New York and Las Vegas were the two metro areas with home price growth over 8% in July.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images | George Rose/Getty Images

Demand for smartphones is down, even with the lure of new technology

Sep 19, 2024
Early pre-order and shipment data indicates demand is not that strong for the iPhone 16. Smartphone sales overall have fallen in the U.S.
The first iteration of Apple's iPhone on display in 2007. In the early years of smartphones, some consumers were getting new phones every two years.
David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Despite all the recent growth, e-commerce still has room to expand

Sep 17, 2024
About 20% of retail sales are online these days.
Practices like curbside pickup for online orders, which was popularized early in the pandemic, have made it difficult to track just how many sales are made online versus in person.
Robin L Marshall/Getty Images

Growth in holiday spending to ease this year, Deloitte predicts

Sep 16, 2024
Spending jumped 15% in 2021 and more than 7% in 2022, but analysts expect "normal" growth of 2.3% to 3.3% for the season in 2024.
Though the labor market is solid, credit card debt is up and the savings rate is down — all of which may impact holiday shopping.

Many people don't realize their home insurance doesn't cover flooding

Sep 13, 2024
As Hurricane Francine made landfall, 14 million people were under flood watches. But only 6% of American homeowners are insured against flooding.
Nationally, just 6% of homeowners have flood insurance, said Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute.
Megan Varner/Getty Images

Gender wage gap widens for the first time in two decades

Sep 12, 2024
Men who work full-time year-round saw their wages rise by 3%, while women who work full-time year-round only saw their wages go up 1.5%.
This is the first time the gender pay gap has widened in a statistically significant way since 2003.
Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images