Marketplace All-in-One

Happy (belated) 2022! We’ve returned from our holiday hiatus, and we’re discussing some of the big news stories of the past week or so, including how insurance companies are now going to be required to pay for some COVID tests. Plus, the pope makes a rare appearance in the News Fix, and our beloved former co-host has some smart things to say about schools and omicron. In the make me smile department, we’ll talk about the first Black woman to appear on the U.S. quarter and a video about the special dogs that got us through 2021.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

What’s making you smile so far in 2022? Let us know. Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).

… it’s because we have. As omicron surges nationwide, nearly a quarter of hospitals are critically short-staffed, according to federal data. That’s forcing hospitals to once again make tough calls, like limiting bed capacity, cutting elective surgeries or asking health care workers back — even if they’ve tested positive for COVID-19. We’ll also tackle the challenges of constructing housing that’s affordable and carbon neutral, take a look at why big bank investors are optimistic about fourth-quarter earnings and hear how a team of British researchers is hoping to harness the power of the sun.

We take a look at the relationship between mortgage rates and home prices. It can get a little complicated once inflation factors in. The Chinese city of Tianjin’s 14 million residents are going to undergo COVID testing after more than 40 cases popped up there over the weekend. The BBC reports on how people in rural Spain are campaigning for more investment and better infrastructure.

The pandemic has led to a heavy reliance on traveling nurses, whose pay has increased to thousands more than what staff nurses generally make. This begs the question for those nurses: Why stay? The Biden administration is trying to get more COVID relief money to small businesses in disadvantaged communities. The IRS wants apps like Venmo to start reporting businesses transactions totaling more than $600, which adds a wrinkle to the money logistics of many people who have gone into business for themselves.

From the BBC World Service: That’s more than half of all employees at New Oriental, one of China’s biggest private-tutoring companies. It comes after Beijing implemented stricter rules on private education sector last summer as it tightens regulation in various industries. Plus, the Philippines is the latest Asian country to appeal to Indonesia to lift its ban on coal exports. And, people in rural Spain are campaigning for more investment and better infrastructure.

The Consumer Electronics Show just wrapped in Las Vegas. This year, it was a hybrid conference due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. Some attended in-person exhibits and talks, while others tuned in remotely. One of the remote attendees this year was Brian Cooley, an editor at large for CNET. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams checked in with him about what new tech is getting all the buzz, and what it’s like attending the biggest tech show on Earth from home.

Unemployment fell in December close to a pre-pandemic low. But the economy added far fewer jobs than economists expected. So what gives? It has to do with the two different surveys that make up the monthly jobs report and how they define “employment.” Plus: App-based payments come out from “under the table,” higher fees come for second homes and people shift how they do their ‘dos in the pandemic.

Takeout has become a huge part of life in the pandemic era, and restaurants have leaned into to-go alcohol as a big part of their business. New York is moving toward making to-go alcohol a permanent thing. Julia Coronado joins us to discuss the release of the latest jobs data, part of which shows a somewhat underwhelming December. In an effort to turn things around, GameStop is about to explore the space of cryptocurrency and NFTs.

It’a another jobs report day today, and one thing that’s shown itself to be constant no matter what the data says is that demand for workers remains high. There’s a record-setting number of job openings and a desire for people to fill them. While inflation has been seen as a kind of economic dark cloud by many, others see some marketing possibilities. The BBC reports on how steel companies in the U.K. are handling U.S. import tariffs.

From the BBC World Service: A large coalition of investment firms is calling on the world’s biggest COVID vaccine makers to improve global jab distribution. Plus, though the fuel price cap has been reimposed in Kazakhstan, life in the commercial capital of Almaty is getting increasingly difficult. And, how British steel companies are dealing with the ongoing impact of U.S. import tariffs.