Jul 30, 2024

Where’s the AI spending payoff?

Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

Wall Street wants to know! Big Tech, though, says these things take time. Plus: abandoned gold mines and telephone operators.

Segments From this episode

What does a normalizing job market look like?

by Samantha Fields

Jul 30, 2024

Economists say the supply of jobs and workers is coming into better balance than during the labor shortages of the pandemic.

From May to June, little changed in terms of job openings, layoffs and quits. Take a birds-eye view though, and the labor market has slowed in the last year.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

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In a tight housing market, Texas is seeing some relief for buyers

by Amy Scott and Sarah Leeson

Jul 30, 2024

"I have not seen us write more than two offers before getting an acceptance, whereas before it was writing offer after offer after offer," said Houston real estate broker LaTisha Grant.

House prices are continuing to rise nationally, but Texas is an exception.

Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

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Wall Street's question for Big Tech: When will all that money you're spending on AI finally pay off?

by Henry Epp

Jul 30, 2024

For now, it's boosting other parts of the economy — chipmakers and contractors that build data centers, for example.

Investors want to see AI spending start to pay off, but building AI-supportive infrastructure takes time.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

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Gold rush mines are a 21st century safety hazard. It may take Colorado decades to close them all.

by Elizabeth Trovall

Jul 30, 2024

The American heyday of gold mining may be in the past, but thousands of abandoned mines remain a problem for governments to clean up.

Inside the Chicago Carr Mine in Colorado.

Courtesy Gilpin Historical Society

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As home prices rise, more deals fall through

by Sabri Ben-Achour

Jul 30, 2024

With prices and mortgage rates high, people are "buying at the edge of what they can qualify for," a real estate economist says.

Rich home values and high mortgage rates heap pressure on prospective buyers in the current market.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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My Analog Life

What it was like working as a 411 operator before the internet

by Sofia Terenzio

Jul 30, 2024

Lilith from Ventura, California, recalls what it was like working as an information operator in a time before the internet.

Lilith said she remembers sitting in a cubicle with headphones on and phone books in front of her as she waited for the calls to roll in.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer II

Andie Corban Producer I

Sarah Leeson Producer I

Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II

Sofia Terenzio Assistant Producer

Jordan Mangi Assistant Digital Producer

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