Week of December 8th, 2025

Plus, what it’s like to pay for home insurance — or not be able to afford it — in the Sunshine State.

Plus: Farm drones, holiday shopping, and a recap of the week’s economic headlines.

Even with tech stocks pulling back, a broader market rally is underway heading into 2026.

Darrell Lester, a former PCH executive, said the company turned “dozens upon dozens” of Americans into millionaires.

Aerial crop planting and treatment takes off.

The Trump administration is reconfiguring a government watchdog that grew out of the Great Recession.

“Extended range” EVs use a small gas engine to recharge the battery when it gets low, adding hundreds of miles to the distance a car can go.

Who shows up and how employees interact at an office holiday party can be a good indicator of how business is faring.

Who’s at the holiday party and what’s being dished up can hint at how business is going for your place of work.

From the BBC World Service: Reddit is one of 10 online platforms covered by Australia’s ban on social media use by children under 16.

Joanna Stern, senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal, joins Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino for this week’s Tech Bytes: Week in Review.

Trump’s detention and deportation policies are shaking up labor market data. Plus: AI trash sorting, labor productivity, and a holiday retail check-in.

There are far fewer new job seekers in the U.S. due to Trump’s restrictive immigration policies. As a result, the goal posts for what healthy job growth looks like have also changed.

Over the course of 2025, U.S.-China trade relations have heated up over discussions regarding tariffs, soybeans and trade surpluses and deficits. But could the relationship be cooling?

A Colorado company uses computer vision and robotics to improve recycling rates.

Before the deal closes, the two companies will have to face Paramount and antitrust regulators.

Productivity has increased, largely because more jobs are being automated — and AI is expected to speed that transformation.

This is the third time this year Fed Chair Jerome Powell slashed interest rates.

Many survey respondents said they took items because of affordability concerns, while others stole because they were fed up with the machines.

This morning, we'll hear why Fed Chair Jerome Powell says estimating job growth can be so tricky.

Many immigrant families are in lockdown or not working due to ICE enforcement, causing economic pressure that mirrors the pandemic.

For migrant families, ICE raids are altering spending habits and the ability to work without fear.

From the BBC World Service: Mexico’s parliament has voted in favor of a bill imposing tariffs of between 5% and 50% on goods from Asian nations, including China.

Scott Brennen, director of NYU's Center on Technology Policy, says public utility commissions have the power to set rates for energy use and have a say in whether infrastructure permits and upgrades can move forward.

Arizona Pipe Trades is a union-run program to train the workers helping build up one of the fastest-growing cities in America.

In an interconnected global economy, the Fed may have to follow suit. Plus: job training, holiday shopping and wage growth.

The case for and against quarterly earnings reporting.

The interconnectedness of the global economy may force the Fed to eventually follow suit.

The Employment Cost Index shows wages and benefits grew 3.5% in September year-to-year. That’s the lowest increase since 2021.

Two officials voted to keep the rate unchanged, while Stephen Miran, whom Trump appointed in September, voted for a half-point cut.

According to Peter Howitt, artificial intelligence has the power to create both future job loss and future jobs we can’t yet imagine.

A new report finds that different customers were charged different prices for identical products ordered through Instacart. 

The move is the latest in the state’s embrace of the crypto mining industry, and other states may have their own crypto reserves soon.

With the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates, lenders may be pitching you refinancing opportunities. Here’s what to know if you’re getting inundated with offers.

If you get a phone call offering mortgage refinancing with no cost to you, exercise caution.

From the BBC World Service: Amazon has announced plans to double its investment in India to $35 billion by 2030.

While newer ultra-HD televisions are upgraded with better lighting and richer colors, there's a reason some consumers still opt for a good ol' plasma TV.

Why are retail job cuts up? Plus: Bonds, Botox and small business optimism.

Amid competition from generics and a push to age naturally, Botox sales are slumping.

How companies that mine copper, ore, and even nickel, are betting on the sea floor to find such rare earths.

Bond traders seem to be betting that rates may already be close to a level that keeps inflation down and the labor market strong.

Here are three AI bubble terms you may want to familiarize yourself with now. You know, just in case.

The latest survey from the National Federation of Independent Business shows that even with tariffs and inflation woes, small business owners are feeling good.

New technology like robots and self-checkouts mean even while consumers are spending, retailers aren’t hiring more.

In New York, more than 12,000 new apartments are being created from office buildings that have struggled to recover since the pandemic.

Paramount and Netflix are sparring over an acquisition deal for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Walmart could receive an additional $20 billion in investment by joining the Nasdaq’s QQQ index.

The survey sheds light on how consumers feel about the economy at a time when government reports have been postponed or canceled due to the shutdown.

Walmart is moving from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq market. What’s behind the decision?

From the BBC World Service: A new law comes into force in Australia today, banning children under 16 from some of their favorite social media platforms.

Britt Young, writer and lecturer at UC Berkeley, explains why 3D printing has not brought down costs of prosthetic limbs.

Labubu dolls and Stanley cups are replacing luxury cars and designer clothes as status symbols, and that says something about the attention economy.

Plus: the upcoming Fed meeting, little status symbols, and rising health insurance premiums.

The aid includes billions in payments to farmers hurt by the trade war.

Inflation has been stubbornly hanging around 2.8% for months. That’s above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. Meanwhile, key areas of the labor market are showing signs of weakness.

Republican-led states that declined to expand Medicaid brace for uninsured spike as marketplace subsidies expire.

Elevated interest rates, tariffs, and labor shortages due to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown have left many would-be buyers on the sidelines.

JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon says the economy is resilient, but consumers are painting a picture of a K-shaped economy — one that’s playing out at restaurants, too.

Lower-income consumers are pulling back on dining out, while higher-income households continue their restaurant spending.

A wood manufacturing company in the forests of northern Michigan is hiring people right out of rehab and running a sober house for employees in addiction recovery.  

Traffic from AI sources like chatbots to retail sites is up nearly 760%, according to Adobe Analytics data.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments this morning in Trump v. Slaughter.

From the BBC World Service: Fresh data shows a sharp drop in shipments to the U.S. was offset by surging exports to other major markets.

Dr. Darja Djordjevic, an adolescent and adult psychiatrist at Columbia University and coauthor of that recent report, says generative chatbots prioritize engagement, not safety.