Samantha Fields

Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Samantha Fields is a senior reporter at Marketplace.

She’s particularly interested in how the economy affects people’s everyday lives, and a lot of her coverage focuses on economic inequality, housing and climate change.

She’s also reported and produced for WCAI and The GroundTruth Project, the “NPR Politics Podcast,” NPR’s midday show, “Here & Now,” Vermont Public Radio and Maine Public Radio. She got her start in journalism as a reporter for a community paper, The Wellesley Townsman, and her start in radio as an intern and freelance producer at “The Takeaway” at WNYC. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Latest Stories (549)

When interest rate cuts come, where will you feel them first?

Aug 22, 2024
Mortgages, savings accounts and credit card debt are a few places. Some rates have already edged down.
Interest rates have declined on mortgages and some fixed-income investments.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The U.S. electrical grid is getting more gigawatts. But is it enough?

Aug 19, 2024
The U.S. electrical grid added more than 20 gigawatts of capacity the first half of this year, much of it from renewables.
A lot of new electricity-generation projects are being built, like those using solar and wind power. But more transmission lines are also needed.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

How often does the Fed actually achieve its dual mandate — price stability and maximum employment?

Aug 7, 2024
Since the late 1970s, the Federal Reserve has had two main jobs: ensuring stable prices and maximum employment. How often does it achieve both at the same time?
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

How do big swings in the stock market affect consumer behavior?

Aug 6, 2024
The markets have been on a roller-coaster ride, and it seems we invest more emotion in the downs than the ups.
Humans tend to feel losses more acutely than gains, said Swarthmore's Syon Bhanot. That could be why stock market slumps freak consumers out more than gains provide them relief.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Why are stocks cratering around the globe?

Aug 5, 2024
The disappointing July jobs report fed fears of a U.S. downturn, spurring traders to sell. But economic fundamentals are still strong.
When an economic report diverges from forecasts, it can "result in large either upward or downward movements," said Charles Lieberman at Advisors Capital Management.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

What does a normalizing job market look like?

Jul 30, 2024
Economists say the supply of jobs and workers is coming into better balance than during the labor shortages of the pandemic.
From May to June, little changed in terms of job openings, layoffs and quits. Take a birds-eye view though, and the labor market has slowed in the last year.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

What is "maximum employment"?

Jul 29, 2024
And why is there no target number to measure it, as there is with inflation —the Federal Reserve's other mandate?
The Federal Reserve is thought to believe that 4% unemployment equates to its goal of maximum employment. But could the jobless rate go even lower without kicking up inflation? Above, Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Nathan Howard/Getty Images

New study indicates finances are putting some adults off having children

Jul 29, 2024
The survey from the Pew Research Center says child care costs and student debt are among the factors dissuading potential parents.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Kids' upward mobility linked to how many adults around them work

Jul 26, 2024
A new study from Harvard University and the Census Bureau suggests it's not all about your individual effort or household situation.
"It's not just all about you and your family," said the Aspen Institute's Steven Brown of children's upward mobility. "It's about neighborhoods, it's about networks."
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

FTC investigates companies' use of surveillance pricing

Jul 25, 2024
The Federal Trade Commission wants to know how firms are using surveillance pricing as ever more data on consumers is collected.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images