Marketplace All-in-One

Halloween is almost here, meaning plenty of people are on the hunt for a scare. And there is, in fact, an entire sector of the economy that revolves around providing spooks, frights, and horrors. For the latest installment of our "What's That Like?" series, we hear from Kalila Smith, owner of Haunted History Tours in New Orleans, Louisiana. Listen ... if you dare. But first, we examine what it costs to employ someone these days.

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories from this podcast:

This measure of labor costs can signal when inflation's on the way
Tales from a ghost tour company in the Big Easy

Homebuilders constructed 19,000 fewer homes in 2024 because of the lack of skilled labor, according to a construction industry estimate from last year. A big factor in the labor shortage is the federal government's immigration crackdown, which has led to the arrest of many construction workers, often at job sites. This morning, we hear from some families and businesses impacted. Also: weighing jobs and tax revenue versus pollution concerns near proposed data centers.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Read the stories from this episode:

Deportations are disrupting Texas construction jobs and family finances
Wary of data center health impacts, some rural Alabamians are fighting back

Anthropic formally filed to go public this week and about a third of its paperwork is dedicated to potential risks — including political ones. We'll get into it on today's “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”

Plus, it’s a big week for big tech earnings: Microsoft pleased investors with a more restrained approach to AI spending, but still announced it’s offering buyouts to 60,000 employees. Meanwhile, Google’s parent company Alphabet took a plunge on Wall Street.

Here to help us unpack this week’s tech news is Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios.

Check out our YouTube page to watch more episodes of “Tech Bytes.”

More on this:

Anthropic warns investors of AI’s ‘existential risk to humanity’ in IPO prospectus, reports say — from CNBC

Microsoft is offering buyouts to around 60,000 employees. Read the memo — from Business Insider

Meta eyes record $97.5 billion equity raise to fund AI expansion — from Reuters

Scoop: FTC demands Anthropic execs testify in probe — from Axios

Surprise! We’ve got more creepy money stories to get you in the Halloween spirit. A while back, listener Hayden started getting these surprise gifts in the mail. Once he realized who sent them to him, he wondered just how far the gift giver would go. Plus, two more stories of spending regret.

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Fresh data showed the economy grew faster than expected, at a 3.4% annual rate in the third quarter. Prices grew too, by 3.6%. Robust consumer spending tends to drive GDP, but the consumer savings rate — an important financial cushion — is falling. In this episode, when will strong topline economic figures catch up to a precarious consumer reality? Plus: Alphabet stock slides after a disappointing earnings report, apple orchards reap the devastating effects of unusual spring weather, and jobless stats misalign with labor market perceptions.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Read the stories in today’s episode:

The economy grew 3.4% this summer, but consumers got there by saving less
Unemployment numbers are near a 57-year low. Why doesn't it feel like it?
Here's why Alphabet stock plummeted today
China, the world's second largest economy, considers itself "developing." Why?
Apple-picking looks different this season after “devastating year" for orchards