Marketplace

With the holidays wrapping up, we’re looking ahead at changes coming our way in 2020. The Department of Labor is raising the salary threshold for lower-paid salaried workers. Starting January 1st, 1.3 million workers will be eligible for overtime pay, we’ll talk about who is covered in this ruling. Plus: A look back at the last decade in trade and the last year in China.

Disney Plus launched last month, along with the Star Wars universe show “The Mandalorian.” The breakout star is The Child, whom the internet has lovingly dubbed Baby Yoda. While the green little guy is huge online, there’s a noticeable lack of merchandise. We look at why the entertainment giant didn’t have the goods in time for the holiday season. Plus: a climate-conscious Christmas, a look back at the year in retail and one state’s efforts to curb traffic congestion.

Over a year after the first 737 Max plane crashed, Boeing announced CEO Dennis Muilenburg will depart immediately. The board’s current chairman David Calhoun will officially take over on Jan. 13. What’s next for the company and when will the 737 Max be back in the air, if ever? Plus: a chat with the LA mayor, a breakdown of what being a “most-favored-nation” means, and why there’s an overload of packages being delivered to the office.

The big GOP tax cut package will turn two over the weekend. We ask whether the cuts paid for themselves and stimulated the economy as the White House and its allies promised. Plus: Chinese surveillance companies finding blacklist workarounds, new consumer spending numbers and why it’s still so hard to shop sustainably.

Executives from middle market companies say one of their top challenges is finding more skilled workers. Today, we pick that distinction apart a bit and look at what it takes to be a “skilled worker” and why they’re hard to come by. Plus: the economics of tangerine season, chat bots that can “yes and” and a conversation with Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari.

A survey from consulting firm Robert Half said about half of employees planned to spend time online shopping at work this holiday season. Whether that puts you on the naughty list at work is none of our business. Today we dig into the overall effect on productivity, which isn’t as bad as you might think. Plus: The latest consumer price index numbers, FedEx’s “horrific” earnings and a conversation with the CEO of the nation’s second-largest charity.

Turns out it’s about 1%. Today we look at the impact of halting production of the 737 Max, and how the decision could reverberate through the supply chain and economy as a whole. Plus: Three more stories from our “How We Retail” series and a look at the Southern California students turning to Mexico for affordable education.

We’re headed back to Iowa today, continuing our look at how the trade war, not to mention climate change, are altering the $100 billion agriculture business in this country. Plus: Boeing will halt production on the 737 Max, and Uber is giving California drivers a bit more rider info.

Holiday shopping season isn’t down to the wire quite yet, but it’s getting close. Today we’re gonna look at a couple ways shopping is changing: We call a mall manager to hear how the season’s going so far, then we hear from a retiree who went back to work for the app, Shipt. Plus, a quick update on Brexit, Europe’s crowded airports and the long view on inflation.

The dramatic cut of corn and soybean exports to China as a result of the current trade war was a big blow to American farmers, leaving them scattering to find different markets to make up the losses. But that’s easier said than done. The Trump administration has handed out billions in aid, but not every region or crop has gotten the same benefits. Today, we’re doing the numbers on who’s getting that aid, and spend some time with three Iowa farmers to see how they’re coping. Plus, a look at how globalization is affecting inflation, and how technology is helping gift-givers comparison shop this holiday.