Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories
Donate
Make Me Smart

Subscribe:

Episode 428May 8, 2021

The economy gained 266K jobs — but they didn’t go to women

Plus: Self-driving, “SNL,” Twitter tips, “Game of Thrones” and more in this jam-packed happy-hour episode.

Download
Before the pandemic, Black workers were seeing historically low unemployment rates but were still almost twice as likely to be jobless as white workers. Above, a woman in Hollywood, Florida, uses her laptop to file for unemployment benefits in March 2020.
Before the pandemic, Black workers were seeing historically low unemployment rates but were still almost twice as likely to be jobless as white workers. Above, a woman in Hollywood, Florida, uses her laptop to file for unemployment benefits in March 2020.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Subscribe:

In a typical month, 266,000 new jobs would be amazing. But April (and the 12 months before that) was not a typical month. Economists expected about a million, the labor market’s still in a deep hole and on balance, we expected women to get some of them. On today’s show we’ll take you behind the numbers, plus a little on Elon Musk’s autopilot problem and another round of our favorite game, Half Full/Half Empty.

Check out all the thank-you gifts at $5 a month and keep “Make Me Smart” going strong when you donate today: marketplace.org/givesmart

The Team