Marketplace

Consumer prices are up 4.2% year over year. That’s the highest yearly jump since the Great Recession. A lot of prices increased more than expected, including those in communications and apparel. But travel-related prices are on fire. Compared to March, the cost of renting a car went up 16%, airfare is up 10%, lodging is up almost 8% and used cars prices are up 10% — in one month. Also on the show today: Governments are trying to incentivize vaccination, retirements increased during the pandemic, and we take a trip to the mall with a fashion business expert.

Make no mistake, there are a lot of positives in this economy — vaccinations continue, shops and attractions are reopening, consumer spending is strong. The Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business had a small uptick in April, but it’s still at a pretty depressed level compared to pre-pandemic times. On today’s show: Why small-business owners’ outlook is “surprisingly glum.” Plus, Simon Property Group is betting on its tenants, Broadway is coming back and food commodities are getting pricier.

Donations from listeners power our nonprofit news. Your gift will support the journalism that keeps you and thousands of others informed every day. Become a Marketplace Investor: marketplace.org/donate

Arkansas, Montana and South Carolina are pulling out of federal unemployment programs related to the pandemic. The Republican governors of the three states are saying the same thing: The benefits are too generous, and they’re preventing people from wanting to go back to work. But the U.S. economy is still down more than 8 million jobs since the pandemic arrived. On today’s show: Why states are pulling out of the programs and what it means for workers. Also: A pipeline hack reveals critical infrastructure vulnerabilities in the U.S., farmers in Texas are still reeling from the February freeze and how COVID-19 might change packaging for good.

Donations from listeners power our nonprofit news. Your gift will support the journalism that keeps you and thousands of others informed every day. Become a Marketplace Investor: marketplace.org/donate

Most economists expected something like 1 million new jobs in April. Instead, there were 266,000 added — which isn’t going to make much of a dent in recovering the 8 million jobs we’re still down. The hiring slowdown is happening in an economy that has a lot tilted in its favor, including trillions of dollars in relief for individuals, small businesses and local government. On today’s show, we make sense of April’s jobs numbers and ask what it’s going to take to juice the jobs market. Plus: why the Federal Reserve is pointing to risks in the current economy; how restaurants in Texas are finding it hard to attract staff; and a look at the water crisis in a rural Maryland community.

Now, this is a good investment: Give $5 a month or more to support Marketplace’s public service journalism and get (almost) any thank-you gift: marketplace.org/donate

The story about infrastructure in this episode contained an error that has been corrected. For more information, visit the episode page at marketplace.org.

We got some signs that the job market is improving: Initial claims for state unemployment benefits last week fell under half a million for the first time since the pandemic began. Continuing claims also fell sharply. But employers and trade groups are increasingly saying they can’t find workers to hire. On today’s show: Why this labor shortage is unusual. Also, the Biden administration is backing a temporary waiver on COVID-19 vaccine patents, what a flexible work future looks like, and why QR codes are the future of hospitality.

Now this is a good investment: Give $5 a month or more to support Marketplace’s public service journalism and get (almost) any thank you gift: marketplace.org/donate

Friday’s jobs report marks one year since the release of one of the worst jobs reports in U.S. history; the economy had lost 20 million jobs in a single month. One year later, there are still millions of people unemployed, but data from payroll processors and online job search sites point to continuing job growth. Chris Hyams, CEO of Indeed, joined “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal to talk about how the labor market is recovering from the pandemic. Also on today’s show: Small businesses that closed at the beginning of the pandemic may never reopen, a new report warns that critical minerals for green energy might become scarce, and the European Union is raising the drawbridge on companies that get foreign subsidies.

Now this is a good investment: Give $5 a month or more to support Marketplace’s public service journalism and get (almost) any thank you gift: marketplace.org/donate

The pandemic prompted a lot of people to think about their values and identities, and that includes what they do for a living. According to Prudential’s Pulse of the American Worker Survey, 1 in 5 workers changed their line of work over the last year. On today’s show: a look at the many Americans drastically changing their career paths. Plus, manufacturers are having difficulty filling job vacancies, rental car companies are having difficulty finding used cars, and church real estate is up.

President Joe Biden has made dealing with climate change a top priority of his administration. While Congress and the White House hammer out the way that shows up in the big infrastructure package, there are relatively easy fixes that have bipartisan support. For example, phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons. HFCs are chemical refrigerants found in products we use every day — that do a lot of damage to the climate. Also on today’s show: More homeowners are paying their mortgage bills again, Verizon is selling Yahoo and AOL for $5 billion and how “green hydrogen” could be used to produce energy and steel with zero emissions.

The economic recovery is showing up in a big way: GDP is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, and consumer confidence is improving as more Americans are vaccinated. There’s been a surge in consumer spending, driven by record-setting personal income — pumped by relief checks and more Americans getting back to work. About that “getting back to work” part. We’ll see the April jobs report next week, and it’s expected to be very strong. Still, the number of jobs in the U.S. economy is nowhere near pre-pandemic levels, and it could take a while to get there. Also on today’s show: how New York businesses are getting ready to reopen, more companies are incentivizing vaccination and how the U.S. is trying to reclaim its rare-earth mantle.

The Commerce Department announced Thursday that in the first quarter of 2021 gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 6.4%. That’s within 1% of pre-pandemic GDP. It’s easy to look back at the pre-pandemic economy all starry eyed; unemployment was low and pay for low-wage workers was rising. But it wasn’t exactly a golden era for workers. On today’s show: Do we even want to go back to a pre-pandemic economy? Also: a look at the child care industry issues weighing on workers and parents, how reparations will help women build houses in Baltimore, and how a variable minimum wage could work.