Today on Indicators of the Week: government iPhone restrictions in China that walloped Apple's market value. Plus plans emerge over how the US government plans to negotiate drug prices. Also, a mass exodus of employees from a top dating app that sheds some light on where the whole working from home debate is.

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When refugees arrive in the U.S. the clock starts ticking. They usually have up to 90 days to get a job and become 'self-sufficient'.

Researcher Blair Sackett says that that's simply not enough time for refugees to acclimate to a totally new country and culture and find work. She argues that current policy essentially resettles refugees into poverty.

Today on the show we explore that 90-day policy and potential solutions to help refugees find their financial footing.

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More than 7 million Americans are living with dementia. To take care of this population, family members must often make the difficult choice of giving up work or paying for a costly facility. Today on the show, the rising cost of memory care in an aging population.

Related Episodes:
Who's gonna take care of grandma?

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The Beigies are back, with a twist!

In China, data on the economy is sometimes difficult to come by, so we thought we'd take a leaf out of the US Federal Reserve's Beige Book instead. Today, we bring you some colorful anecdotes about China's economy, on inbound tourism and revenge spending, neither of which is fueling an economic comeback.

Related Episodes:

Boats, bikes and the Beigies (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)
Young, 'spoiled and miserable' in China
Two Indicators shaking China's economy

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The jobs report is in! And both the rate of employment AND unemployment went up in August. How does that happen? Plus, how disabled people are doing in the labor market.

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The Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It sees hundreds of billions worth of stuff pass through it every year. But a historic drought is making it a little harder for big cargo ships to get through the fifty-one mile long channel. Today on the show, we look at how this backup presents yet another test for global supply chains.

Related Episode:
Two Indicators: supply chain and solutions (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)

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Every day, A Ze, a young woman in Beijing, would wake up early, do her makeup, and walk to her old work bus stop... and keep going. She'd left her job but couldn't let her parents know.

China's urban youth unemployment rate hit 21% in June, a number way up from pre-pandemic times. But at the same time, factories are crying out for workers.

Today, we talk about China's slowdown in growth, and how it's hit white-collar job openings the hardest, and how China's educated young people are sometimes opting out of work entirely.

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Over the years, U.S. agriculture has grown increasingly dependent on the H-2A Guest Worker program to bring in foreign workers to harvest crops. H2A is a vestige of a U.S. and Mexican policy called the Bracero Program, which ended in the 1960s. Today on the show, why farmers and farm worker advocates are calling for more scrutiny of the current-day visa program, which has been dogged by concerns about worker exploitation and safety.

Related Episodes:
Farm Jobs Friday (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)

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What's hotter than a leather car seat in the late summer? The Indicator Quiz! We bring a listener onto the show and test their econ knowledge. Today's quiz is all about the Internet and artificial intelligence. Play along with us and see how you do!

Are you interested in being a contestant on our next Indicator Quiz? Just email us your name and phone number at [email protected] and put "Indicator Quiz" in the subject line.

Related Episodes:
Breaking up big business is hard to do
A night at the museum of the economy
r/Boxes, r/Reddit, r/AI
Is AI a job-killer or upskiller?
Inside the underwater cables powering the economy

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It's Indicators of the Week, our weekly news roundup. Today, AI doesn't want to invest in AI, a county in Washington state implements a 4-day work week, and NYC says bye bye to Airbnb, sorta.

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