Marketplace All-in-One

The September Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from the BLS is out, and things in this labor market are mostly unchanged, although quits were up a bit. Still, economists are clear: Now is not the time to leave your job without another one lined up. Also in this episode: That stiff labor market may be hampering productivity, warehousing costs are up as retailers scramble for the holidays, and pro baseball faces a lockout in 2027.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Read the stories in today’s episode:

• What continued productivity growth might say about this economy
• Quits ticked up in September, but economists say it’s still a terrible time to leave your job
• Sometimes leaving the workforce turns into a labor of love
• Why warehouse space is getting harder and more expensive to come by
• Companies invest big in pet food research
• MLB players look to defend free labor market as owners push for a salary cap

It’s a big week for labor market data, including data on wages, unemployment, and job turnover. But before the employment floodgates open, it’s worth looking at a group of workers who have stepped back from the labor force: Men ages 25 to 54 — who were almost all working half a century ago — are participating significantly less today. What gives? Also: a look at how the U.S. trade balance is holding up.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Back in September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cleared the way for the trading of tokenized stocks. The so-called “Innovation Exemption” temporarily lifts some regulations to allow for the issuance of digital tokens, which represent shares in a corporation or organization. In other words, it’s another way for investors to trade. This morning, we explain it all. But first, Marriott’s earnings beat expectations, even as some customers tighten their belts.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Interpol estimates scam losses totaled almost $500 billion globally last year.

In many cases, it’s not just one bad actor but an entire network of scammers. And Cambodia has become a major hub for the industry. Last year, the U.S. issued more than 100 sanctionstied to fraud operations in the country.

Reporter Leila Goldstein takes us behind the scenes of an abandoned scam compound in southeast Cambodia.

After Ryan builds his own hip-hop dancing generative AI companion, he and Bridget visit an AI data center to answer Lyric’s question: how do AI companies make money? That’s where they learn why all the money pouring into AI doesn’t mean profits for everyone yet. But the duo get more than they bargain for when an AI data scientist tries to pull the plug!

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is issuing $6.7 billion worth of bonds in Europe. That’s about €6 billion. Meta is reportedly considering a similar move. In this episode, we explain the pros and cons of Big Tech selling debt on the European market. Plus: AI agents transform the travel industry, Kai tours a satellite factory in Southern California, and the low-fire, low-hire, weak-wage-growth trifecta persists ahead of the October jobs report.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Read the stories in today’s episode:

• Jobs data has see-sawed lately. What can we expect for October?
• What role will AI play in travel and hospitality?
• Is bigger better? Why these brothers are trying to build satellites at scale
• Why Alphabet and other big tech firms are raising money in euros
• In San Francisco, real estate has reached eye-popping prices

In October, the Trump administration announced it would no longer enforce parts of the National Firearms Act, a nearly century-old law that regulates the sale of certain firearms and accessories. It's one of many changes to gun regulations that may be coming down the pipeline. In this podcast, we unpack. But first, we have a primer for this week’s deluge of jobs data.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories from this episode:

• What new gun policy changes mean for the firearm industry

With Election Day almost upon us, some business leaders are urging candidates and public officials to respect the voting process and abide by election results. They argue that free and fair elections are essential to a functional economy. This morning, we'll learn what actions the business community is taking. Then, New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan joins the program to discuss financial scams and what more federal agencies and private firms can do to prevent them.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Read the stories in this episode:

• Some business leaders are ready to defend election officials and the voting process after polls close
• Sen. Maggie Hassan on financial scams

In September, OpenAI said that its models had solved one of math's famous Millennium Prize problems. Then, the lab dropped more than 700 papers tackling another 400 complex problems with more breakthroughs to come.

These developments have caused something of an existential crisis in the math world. But Alex Kontorovich, a professor of math at Rutgers University, says they're a gift.

More on this:

“Sharing AI progress in mathematics” from OpenAI

“OpenAI Releases Findings on 377 Math Problems, Further Roiling Field” from The New York Times

“The Shape of Math To Come” from arXiv

BOO!! We’re back with even more financial tales from the crypt — from giving a hormonal teen a debit card to getting into business with a scammer. Plus, a Backstreet Boys obsession that goes awry.

If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org

If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” seemore info here.

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Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today:https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Big Tech firms saw major stock market slides this week. Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Intel all dropped, following less-than-stellar earnings reports. Cracks are showing in the tech biz, and they aren’t all related to AI. Is this the beginning of an AI bubble burst? We’ll explain. Plus: How companies decide whether to offer buyouts or do traditional layoffs, what it’s like to go back to school in your 40s, and where new affordable EVs are available (hint: outside the U.S.)

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Read the stories in today’s episode:

• Don't let this economy give you a fright
• Inside Big Tech companies' big slump this week
• She loved bartending. Then she decided to head back to school
• Why companies offer buyouts versus layoffs
• To test drive affordable EVs, he took a trip to CDMX

Halloween is almost here, meaning plenty of people are on the hunt for a scare. And there is, in fact, an entire sector of the economy that revolves around providing spooks, frights, and horrors. For the latest installment of our "What's That Like?" series, we hear from Kalila Smith, owner of Haunted History Tours in New Orleans, Louisiana. Listen ... if you dare. But first, we examine what it costs to employ someone these days.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Homebuilders constructed 19,000 fewer homes in 2024 because of the lack of skilled labor, according to a construction industry estimate from last year. A big factor in the labor shortage is the federal government's immigration crackdown, which has led to the arrest of many construction workers, often at job sites. This morning, we hear from some families and businesses impacted. Also: weighing jobs and tax revenue versus pollution concerns near proposed data centers.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Surprise! We’ve got more creepy money stories to get you in the Halloween spirit. A while back, listener Hayden started getting these surprise gifts in the mail. Once he realized who sent them to him, he wondered just how far the gift giver would go. Plus, two more stories of spending regret.

If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org

If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” seemore info here.

Follow us onInstagram andTiktok!

Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today:https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Anthropic formally filed to go public this week and about a third of its paperwork is dedicated to potential risks — including political ones. We'll get into it on today's “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”

Plus, it’s a big week for big tech earnings: Microsoft pleased investors with a more restrained approach to AI spending, but still announced it’s offering buyouts to 60,000 employees. Meanwhile, Google’s parent company Alphabet took a plunge on Wall Street.

Here to help us unpack this week’s tech news is Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios.

Check out our YouTube page to watch more episodes of “Tech Bytes.”

More on this:

Anthropic warns investors of AI’s ‘existential risk to humanity’ in IPO prospectus, reports say — from CNBC

Microsoft is offering buyouts to around 60,000 employees. Read the memo — from Business Insider

Meta eyes record $97.5 billion equity raise to fund AI expansion — from Reuters

Scoop: FTC demands Anthropic execs testify in probe — from Axios

Fresh data showed the economy grew faster than expected, at a 3.4% annual rate in the third quarter. Prices grew too, by 3.6%. Robust consumer spending tends to drive GDP, but the consumer savings rate — an important financial cushion — is falling. In this episode, when will strong topline economic figures catch up to a precarious consumer reality? Plus: Alphabet stock slides after a disappointing earnings report, apple orchards reap the devastating effects of unusual spring weather, and jobless stats misalign with labor market perceptions.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Read the stories in today’s episode:

• The economy grew 3.4% this summer, but consumers got there by saving less
• Unemployment numbers are near a 57-year low. Why doesn't it feel like it?
• Here's why Alphabet stock plummeted today
• China, the world's second largest economy, considers itself "developing." Why?
• Apple-picking looks different this season after “devastating year" for orchards

Dolores Huerta, an icon of labor rights, women's rights, and civil rights, died yesterday at 96. Huerta co-founded what became the United Farm Workers of America, and, for decades, she led strikes and protests pushing for better conditions for agricultural workers. Today, we have a remembrance. Also in this episode: why the Fed held off on raising interest rates and what a proposed hyperscale data center could mean for residents of a rural Alabama town.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

Read the stories from this podcast:

• A remembrance of labor rights icon Dolores Huerta
• Wary of data center health impacts, some rural Alabamians are fighting back

Households often take on additional debt as they up their spending over the holidays. Buy now, pay later is poised to be an increasingly popular method for making those holiday purchases, new research finds. We hear about the benefits and the risks. And later in the show, we look at key takeaways from Anthropic's IPO filing and talk about what to make of the vast amounts of money flowing through big tech right now.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at https://www.marketplace.org/ — and consider making an investment in our future.

With Halloween around the corner, we revisit listeners’ spine-chilling money horror stories — you know, the financial choices that are still haunting them, or the spending secrets they hope to take to the grave.

If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org

If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” seemore info here.

Follow us onInstagram andTiktok!

Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today:https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Consumer electronics and AI data centers need memory chips. But there are only a handful of companies in the world that make them. The surge in demand has caused memory shortages and price spikes for everything, including our all-important smartphones.

Gerrit Schneemann is principal analyst at Counterpoint Research, which recently reported global phone prices have jumped by an average of 15%, and even more in markets where consumers can least afford it.

More on this:

“The AI boom is making the world’s cheapest smartphones disappear” from Rest of World

“Global Existing Smartphone Prices Climb About 15% in 2026, New Launches 25% Costlier YoY as OEMs Maneuver Memory Price Hikes” from Counterpoint Research