Marketplace All-in-One

U.S. families expect to spend more than $900 on back-to-school shopping this year, according to one PwC survey. Big box retailers have taken advantage of anxiety about higher costs by pushing school supplies earlier than ever. In this episode, how consumer mood correlates to consumer spending. Plus: Holiday weekend heat strains electric grids, Boeing and Airbus aircraft demand persists, and algae can make or break Great Lakes summer tourism.

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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:

Anxiety is driving some of our early back-to-school shopping
Chicago Fed launches a new consumer sentiment composite index
Weekend heat wave tests the country's power grid
What's behind the massive appetite for new Boeing and Airbus planes
How the algae in Lake Erie can make or break the Great Lakes economy
How homeownership turned an HR professional into a plant entrepreneur

“I don't know what a young person who's a current college student who has no work experience could possibly do for me, sitting at a computer, that AI couldn't do itself,” said Molly Kinder, who researches AI and the labor market. While there's no real evidence yet that AI is eliminating entry-level jobs en masse, researchers say we should plan for the possibility. What exactly would that look like? We’ll explore. But first: checking in on oil production and gas prices.

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.

Stories featured in this episode:

In the age of AI, what will entry-level jobs look like?

A lesser-known chipmaker riding the AI wave, the Korean company SK Hynix, will debut on the Nasdaq exchange on Friday. The company makes specialized chips that are in short supply and used in everything AI-related right now. That huge demand has sent its stock soaring 250% so far this year. Plus, as NATO leaders meet in Turkey this week, we'll dig into Europe's promised defense spending increases.

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.

During last year’s massive wildfires in Los Angeles, concerned residents and firefighters went to one app to get up to date information: Watch Duty. Now, the app covers all 50 states and recently added flood tracking to its repertoire. Watch Duty’s chief technology officer David Merritt joined Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino to talk about how the app is scaling up.

Careers in the trades — a path that’s largely more AI-proof, less expensive, and more dependable — are attracting more attention. We visit Hope Renovations, a program in North Carolina focused on getting more women and non-binary people into the trades. Also, we look at a decline in the labor force participation rate, country stores in New England, and a tailoring business in Utah.

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.