Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

Fed's rate cut influenced lending in advance. But hiring may pick up down the road.

Sep 19, 2024
Some effects of cheaper money won't be visible until next year, and smaller, more risk-averse businesses may be slower to respond.
Lenders were expecting a cut and had priced it into their business, says former Federal Reserve economist Karlyn Mitchell.
Chase Castor for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Business investment, part of GDP, reflects the level of optimism

Jul 22, 2024
Whether it’s new machines for a factory or better software to manage payments, companies spend because they see opportunities.
Businesses invest in growth because they see opportunities for profit.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Why isn't the cost of borrowing money included in the consumer price index?

May 15, 2024
Loans are a big cost, but they would muddle the data in the CPI. Fed rate hikes would essentially create inflation, despite their intention.
Borrowing is a major expense for many Americans. One example is the interest on car loans.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Gen Z is taking on more credit card debt

May 9, 2024
The credit bureau TransUnion is out with a report showing that borrowers aged 22 to 24 are carrying an average of $2,834 in credit card debt — about a quarter more than millennials in the same age range a decade ago.
Adjusted for inflation, members of Gen Z ages 22 to 24 are carrying roughly a quarter more debt than millennials in the same age range a decade ago.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Why is credit card debt rising again?

Jan 29, 2024
Delinquencies are up, especially for people with lower incomes and multiple types of debt, according to the New York Fed.
People with jobs feel comfortable spending money on their credit cards, says Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

Delinquency rates rise for some types of household debt

Jan 8, 2024
But other positive factors in the economy are limiting the potential damage, economists say, like low unemployment.
Loan delinquencies are rising the most among young borrowers, low-income borrowers and borrowers with multiple types of debt.
Sefa Ozel/Getty Images

The Fed might cut interest rates soon. That's weighing on business owners' plans.

Jan 2, 2024
Do they wait for lower rates in the future or borrow what they need today? It’s a question of cost versus opportunity.
Some construction projects have been paused or postponed until interest rates fall, said John Kirk, a developer in San Antonio.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Colleges and universities may find borrowing harder to do and more expensive

Dec 7, 2023
Their customer base is shrinking and there's no appetite for raising prices, aka tuition.
Some schools are already cutting costs by eliminating whole academic departments and laying off faculty, says Catharine Hill with education non-profit Ithaka S&R.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

For some business owners, higher interest rates are a non-issue

Dec 4, 2023
The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates for almost two years now, affecting virtually everyt;hing in the economy. But some businesses have been relatively insulated from rate hikes.
Bryan Hughes, owner of a snake removal and relocation service in Arizona, says his business isn't sensitive to how the broader economy is doing. "Our customers are largely driven by behavior of the animals," he said.
Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images

Americans have almost $990 billion in credit card debt

Jun 9, 2023
But with interest rates high and wage growth slowing, that level of spending is becoming unsustainable.
Between early 2021 and mid-2022, about 10 million people got credit cards who hadn’t had them before.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images