Paramount Global, which owns Paramount Studios, CBS and more, has agreed to merge with Skydance Media, the source of some of Paramount’s biggest films. The deal will cost Skydance and its founder David Ellison $8 billion and would cement Ellison’s position as a Hollywood mogul. We’ll unpack. Plus, more Americans are traveling abroad thanks to a strong U.S. dollar. And there’s more people looking for work, but it’s taking them longer to find jobs.

From the BBC World Service: France is facing political gridlock after a left-wing alliance emerged as the surprise winner of France’s snap election. The coalition secured the most seats but no outright majority. Also on the program: Trust in Lebanon’s financial system is at an all-time low, after a banking collapse and hyperinflation. Plus, Samsung is experiencing its first-ever strike in South Korea the over pay and holidays.

Big-budget video game producers and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the union representing voice-over actors and motion-capture stunt workers, have been negotiating a new labor contract since last September. And union leaders say those talks have stalled due to concerns over generative artificial intelligence. (Note: Several Marketplace employees are also represented by SAG-AFTRA under a different contract.) Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke with Associated Press reporter Sarah Parvini, who recently wrote about the negotiations. She explained how consent is a key concern.

Federal surveys aren’t great at collecting data on Native Americans. One reason? As many as 60% of people who check the American Indian/Alaska Native box on forms also check another race box, the Brookings Institution found. In this episode, we’ll explain how undercounting impacts the federal government’s fulfillment of its obligations to Native nations. Plus, we’ll take a trip down the Houston Ship Channel and dissect the latest jobs report.

Markets hit new highs; Unemployment rose to 4.1% in June; Fed report emphasizes independence; Air travel complaints rise.

The Labor Department said today that 206,000 new jobs were created in June and the May jobs number was revised down; wages rose 0.3% last month; stocks, bonds and the British pound all rose today after the Labour Party’s resounding victory; Saks Fifth Avenue is buying Neiman Marcus Group.

The U.S. economy added 206,000 jobs in June, according to the labor department. But job growth in previous months was revised down significantly. What can we make of this data? And what does it mean for next steps for the Federal Reserve? Workers also saw the slowest pace of wage growth in two years. And later: views on France’s election and economy from a farmers market in the French city of Lille.

While the Labour Party saw a historic win in Thursday’s general election in the U.K., the new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is without a raft of money to implement sweeping reforms. So how will the new government differ economically from the one seen under Conservative rule? And later, it’s hard to prepare a meal with a newborn in your hands. That inspired one couple to open a restaurant in Atlanta.

From the BBC World Service: The Labour Party, led by Sir Keir Starmer, won a sweeping victory in the U.K.’s general election held Thursday. We’ll hear from voters about what they hope for in the new government and interrogate just how much change the new administration can realistically deliver. Plus, French voters are also going to the polls on Sunday, and the cost of living is weighing heavy on voters’ minds.

We’ve reached the midyear mark for 2024, so for our weekly review show, “Tech Bytes,” we are breaking format and taking stock of the past six months in tech with Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali asked her what she thought was the most underreported story of the last six months. And what was the biggest flub? We’ll get to those, but we’ll start Curi’s pick for the most impactful story of the first half of the year.