Economy

Economy

How sorority rush is a matching market

4:17pm October 07, 2022

by Wailin Wong

Sorority rush. It's a college tradition full of excitement and anxiety for recruits. For economists, it illustrates a concept that plays a huge role throughout our economy: matching markets.

A man walks past a "Now Hiring" sign in New York City on July 8, 2022. Signs that job growth cooled in September could help with uncomfortably high inflation.

Stocks sink despite Friday's report that hiring cooled in September

4:02pm October 07, 2022

by Scott Horsley

A new jobs report showed a modest slowdown in hiring last month that was not enough to soothe Wall Street's worries about inflation and the Fed. The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5%

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Will the OPEC decision to cut oil production further hurt U.S.-Saudi relations?

5:06am October 07, 2022

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to ex-U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein about the U.S.-Saudi relationship after OPEC decided to cut oil production. President Biden was disappointed by the decision.

Brian Bouser, 22, says his recent experiences in the workforce have prompted him to go into business for himself.

Americans are becoming less productive, and that's a risk to the economy

5:01am October 07, 2022

by Stacey Vanek Smith

Job market swings over the past few years have dampened the motivation of many workers and led to a decline in the fuel of the U.S. economy — productivity.

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says international development banks need new strategies to help countries finance the transition to low-carbon sources of energy like this rooftop solar project in Jordan.

Yellen says development banks need overhauling to deal with global challenges

7:15pm October 06, 2022

by Michael Copley

Development banks need new strategies to address problems that cut across national borders, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

Why that foul baseball you caught might cost you more money in taxes

4:36pm October 06, 2022

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Bloomberg correspondent Michael Bologna about the increasing number of fans catching record-breaking baseballs and the taxes that come with catching a piece of history.

Mortgage rates are up, sales of homes are down

4:36pm October 06, 2022

by Chris Arnold

The current percentage rate for the average home loan is nearly 7%. These mortgage rates continue to push home ownership out of reach for many Americans navigating a frothy housing market.

News brief: OPEC and the WTO, Ukraine's Gains in the East, NPR/Marist Poll

8:19am October 06, 2022

The WTO predicts a sharp slowdown in global trade. Ukrainian forces are taking back territory that had been captured by Russia. A new NPR poll shows President Biden's approval rating is up.

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Economy

With global trade expected to slow, the WTO warns of a possible recession

5:12am October 06, 2022

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Paul Hannon of The Wall Street Journal about the World Trade Organization predicting a sharp slowdown in trade as nations grapple with inflation and rising energy costs.

Penelope Wingard of Charlotte, N.C., has survived breast cancer, a brain aneurysm and surgery on both eyes. For the past eight years, she's also been battling tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt.

Medical debt ruined her credit. 'It's like you're being punished for being sick'

5:00am October 06, 2022

by Aneri Pattani

New policies to keep medical bills from sinking credit ratings sound good but will likely fall short for many hit hardest by debt — especially Black Americans in the South, such as Penelope Wingard.

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