Nov 24, 2021

Inflation and unemployment stats tell a complicated story

Drew Angerer via Getty Images

Plus: Seeing a Thanksgiving road trip through the lens of infrastructure and a plant nursery owner plans a cross-country trek to combat shipping delays.

Segments From this episode

New unemployment claims drop to a 50-year low

by Samantha Fields

Nov 24, 2021

While there are constraints on labor supply, we're seeing signs that some of them are easing, one economist says.

Though this week's first-time jobless claims are a historic low, the economic recovery is still volatile. Above, people line up to attend a Los Angeles job fair.

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

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Consumer prices are growing faster than they have in 30 years

by Andy Uhler

Nov 24, 2021

The Fed's preferred means of measuring inflation jumped 0.6% in October.

Food prices have jumped 4.8% since last year.

Spencer Platt via Getty Images

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Workplace Culture

Most home care workers are entitled to overtime but might not know it

by Meghan McCarty Carino

Nov 24, 2021

A new initiative from the Labor Department aims to up outreach and enforcement related to such issues.

Long-term caregivers and supporters rally in Los Angeles in July for greater investment in the country's caregiving infrastructure.

Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

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Why this plant nursery drives cross-country to hand-deliver orders: “There's not a lot of wiggle room”

by Amy Scott and Minju Park

Nov 24, 2021

Rising freight rates and delayed deliveries are forcing a Wisconsin plant nursery to find ways around the supply chain tie-ups.

Knight Hollow Nursery in Middleton, Wisconsin, specializes in propagations of high-value ornamental trees, shrubs and fruit crops.

Matt Cardy via Getty Images

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How big a year for the labor movement was 2021?

by Amy Scott and Sean McHenry

Nov 24, 2021

An online geographic tracker from Cornell shows there were dozens of strikes that didn't make it into national headlines or government data.

Nurses picket at the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center on Nov. 10. Cornell's Labor Action Tracker documents the many strikes and other activities that aren't recorded by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

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Checking the roads and bridges to grandmother's house

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer

Nov 24, 2021

What will the infrastructure bill do for 60-year-old Putty Hill Avenue Bridge — which supports 17,000 vehicles daily — and similar sites?

Each day, more than 17,000 vehicles use Maryland's 60-year-old Putty Hill Avenue Bridge, which has suffered wear and tear.

Nancy Marshall-Genzer

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Music from the episode

Crazy In Love (feat. Jay-Z) Beyoncé, JAY-Z

Tidal Wave Butcher Brown

Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop) - Longer Album Version Erykah Badu, Common

Work Rihanna, Drake

Black Skinhead Kanye West

So Far to Go J Dilla, Common, D'Angelo

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer II

Andie Corban Producer I

Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II

Richard Cunningham Associate Producer I

Dylan Miettinen Associate Digital Producer

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