While still a long way from pre-pandemic days, the job market's making progress

Oct 14, 2021
The number of new jobless claims filed last week was the lowest since March of 2020.
A "Now Hiring" sign is posted in the window of a San Francisco FedEx store on Sep. 16. Last week was the first week with fewer than 300,000 initial unemployment claims since March 14, 2020.
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

Day care providers struggle to compete with rising wages

Oct 13, 2021
The pandemic has shown that child care in the U.S. isn’t working. Most early childhood caregivers and teachers don’t earn a living wage.
The pandemic has only exacerbated the struggles of the child care industry.
Sean Gallup via Getty Images

Probate court cases rise as people die from COVID without wills

Oct 12, 2021
In Texas, probate court judges say they are trying to manage a huge increase in cases, with families left to sort out a loved one's affairs.
Graciela Correa Morales died of COVID-19 at 72. She hadn't drawn up a will before her death, so her family is trying to figure out what to do with her belongings and assets.
Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard

Ongoing supply chain difficulties hobble manufacturing and services

Oct 5, 2021
Purchasing managers reports from both ISM and IHS find that firms are struggling to meet demand due to shortages of labor and materials.
Shipping containers sit in dock at the Port of Oakland, California on Sep. 9.
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

Why some companies are cutting back the 40-hour workweek

Oct 5, 2021
As workers struggle with burnout during the pandemic, some employers are testing a four-day week to combat overwork and lift morale.
Abigail Marks, professor of the future of work at Newcastle University, worries that some employers will "try and force five days’ work into four days."
Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

In South Carolina town, tenants feel effects of expired eviction moratorium

Oct 4, 2021
Marketplace’s Amy Scott speaks with housing attorney Nicole Paluzzi about the wave of evictions in North Charleston.
South Carolina has distributed a fraction of the federal rental assistance funds the state has received. That's a problem for low-income tenants, says housing attorney Nicole Paluzzi.
Spencer Platt via Getty Images

There's still a paper shortage. You know what that means.

Oct 4, 2021
School supplies, holiday cards and, yes, toilet paper are all affected.
Shortages in paper products come down to paper pulp. It’s produced in mills, which are slowed down because of worker shortages right now.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Broken supply chains are causing inflation. For how long?

Sep 30, 2021
Probably through next year, but maybe even longer.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. "We have no control" over supply bottlenecks, he said.
Al Drago/AFP via Getty Images

Long-term unemployment a challenge for women over 40

Sep 30, 2021
An AARP report shows nearly 70% of those unemployed in June had been out of work for six months or more.
Among women age 40 to 65 who were surveyed for an AARP report, more than 40% had experienced a job interruption during the pandemic.
Drazen_ via Getty Images

Owner of child care center hopeful about rebounding from pandemic setbacks

Sep 30, 2021
Milli Pintacsi's child care operation was expanding, and enrollment had reached full capacity. Then the pandemic shut down the business.
Milli Pintacsi, owner of Le Petit Elephant Nursery and Preschool in Napa, California, with her children. "This is our family business," she says. "It feels like we can't fail — we have to make it.”
Courtesy Milli Pintacsi