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COVID-19 economy wanes along with pandemic's urgency

Oct 17, 2023
Makers of vaccines, tests and even protective gear are struggling to adjust to slackening demand.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which supplied key products in the battle against the coronavirus, has seen a dramatic reversal of fortune.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Do you find the economy confusing? So do professional economists

Jul 18, 2023
"We don't quite know what we're doing these days," said one economist.
Getty Images

New businesses are popping up in "donuts" of downtowns

May 30, 2023
A lot of people started new businesses after the onset of the pandemic. That number has stayed high, in part because many businesses are popping up outside of traditional downtown urban cores.
Populations in the suburbs are growing faster than in urban cores, according to an analysis of Census data by the Brookings Institution. This is one reason many new businesses are opening up in neighborhoods that surround downtowns.
Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images

The insurance industry is hiring

May 5, 2023
Insurance is a growing field right now. Severe weather and widespread worry are among the reasons.
Adverse weather is one reason the insurance industry is booming. For instance, insurers  need adjusters to examine the damage caused by floods and tornadoes.
Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

We should care about the troubled "care economy"

Caregivers are often referred to as "the workforce behind the workforce." So why is there so little support for the providers?
The "care economy" is a crucial, yet severely undervalued, part of our economy, Marketplace senior economics contributor Chris Farrell argues. Above, an empty kindergarten classroom.
Getty Images

Pandemics, plagues and innovation in history: the striking parallels between COVID-19 and the Black Death

Jul 8, 2021
There are some economic lessons to be learned from society's handling of the infamous plague of the 14th century.
Ambulance men of Florence, Italy, carrying a patient on a stretcher whilst wearing masks to ward off the plague.
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

A few days in the life of a restaurant owner this spring

Jun 3, 2021
Business is booming — and that has brought a whole new set of challenges.
Pasta Louise has weathered the COVID-19 winter and is sticking around.
Marielle Segara/Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

Bars and restaurants brace for Super Bowl Sunday

Feb 4, 2021
Curfews, cold weather and capacity restrictions are turning business on its head.
This year's Super Bowl viewing experience will be a far cry from last year's revelry in packed sports bars.
Phillip Pacheco/Getty Images

Business economists predict tough winter before 2021 rebound

Dec 7, 2020
Economists expect moderate GDP growth in the fourth quarter, after a fall where consumer spending gave some businesses a boost.
A new survey from the National Association for Business Economists predicts just moderate economic growth in the last quarter of 2020.
Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

Canada’s tourist-driven PNE pivots to hosting film production

Oct 1, 2020
The Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver has had a devastating 2020. Could displaced Hollywood film production help keep it afloat?
An aerial of the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Courtesy of PNE