Legacy Topic: Economy

Spring is officially here, and in addition to daffodils, there may be more “for sale” signs popping up on front yards. According to data out Friday from the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes rose nearly 12 percent last month. One month does not a trend make, but an increase in home sales […]

Nebraska officials estimate that flooding has caused $1.3 billion in damage in the state, more than half of it to crops and cattle. The disaster there and in neighboring Iowa follows a difficult year for both states’ farmers, who’ve been reeling from the ongoing trade war and softening global economy. Now Iowa and Nebraska, with […]

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke Wednesday about low inflation, which he called “one of the major challenges of our time.” Historically, inflation concerns have more often been around too-high inflation, such as the U.S. experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s. But too little inflation can also be problematic, especially for the Federal Reserve’s ability […]

Rhyming poetry can be hard ... with apologies to the Bard.

In a sharp turn from December’s forecasts, the Federal Reserve announced yesterday that it will hold short-term interest rates steady. The announcement comes amid signs of a slowing economy and weakening consumer and business spending. For workers and the housing market, however, the economy is still healthy.

In our economy, the devices we use are constantly asking us to share — or sometimes just taking — our data. And when it comes to that data, not much of it is more personal and private than our health. Yet personal health devices and apps are a growing industry, a subset of which is targeted […]

The multimillion-dollar industry relies heavily on H-2B visa workers from Mexico and Central America.

For Sam Desai, vice president at RM Metals, a year of tariffs on his balance sheet changed his work habits.

Alan Krueger, a groundbreaking Princeton University economist who served as a top adviser in two Democratic administrations and was an authority on the labor market, has died.

Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report confirming a rising cost of living in the United States as the consumer price index rose 0.2 percent. Although it was a small hike, it affected the prices of food, gas and rent. We called up some Marketplace listeners to get their thoughts about how […]