Inflation worsened in September, to 3.7% annually, up from 3.4% in August. Energy prices are mostly to blame, but the other slices of the economy are starting to show price stress. It’s no help that the cost to ship crude oil is up exponentially. In this episode, the dumpster fire that is war-inflated energy prices. Plus: Host Kai Ryssdal and ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson visits a garment exporting business (with a familiar name) that provides job training for women in Mumbai.

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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:

• Inflation worsened in September. Blame energy prices — mostly
• The cost of shipping a tanker of crude oil has skyrocketed due to war
• A Mumbai company training and employing women in the slums

UnitedHealth Group just reported Q3 earnings: Total revenue was down but profits were up. How’s it possible? A decline in Medicaid enrollment, AI-driven billing tools, and some good ol’ corporate diversification. We’ll get into it. Also in this episode, we continue our coverage of the labor force in Mumbai with trips to an Oscar-winning visual effects studio and an English-language night school.

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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:

• "Can't go to the moon every quarter": Big banks' bumpy start to earning season
• Movie studios and night schools: Inside India's growing economy
• UnitedHealth stopped insuring some people. Its profits rose.
• What the low-hire, low-fire economy looks like for a new grad

As the workforces of the U.S., U.K., and similar wealthy Western nations age, other countries with younger populations grow at a clip. Nowhere is this more true than India, where the median age is 29 (a decade younger than the U.S.) and GDP is growing at nearly 8% annually. As part of our ongoing “Age of Work” series, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal and ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson visited Mumbai to understand a workforce and economy that is very different from our own. In this episode, they visit a bustling bazaar where young jewelers are inheriting family businesses.

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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:

• India's economy is on the cusp of its demographic golden age
• It's tough to completely exclude energy prices from inflation calculations

A 2020 law aimed at eliminating surprise medical expenses has shifted some unpredictable costs away from patients. The law was supposed to incentivize jointly set reasonable prices between hospitals and insurers, but instead, there’s been a whole lot of finger pointing — and employers are left holding the bag. Also in this episode: The agriculture economy goes K-shaped, a sailor finds a support network in her solo circumnavigation, and we talk through the week’s economic headlines.

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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:

• The stock market isn’t the economy — except when maybe it is?
• In the agricultural heart of the country, it's a tale of two farm economies
• How a law to protect patients from surprise billing shifted the cost to employers
• Cole Brauer sailed solo around the world. She plans to do it again

First-time unemployment claims (layoffs, basically) have come in below 200,000 for four weeks running — the longest stretch since 1969. At the same time, the economy only barely added jobs in September. Few layoffs, barely any new jobs, and it makes ya start to wonder, just how petrified can this labor market get? Also in this episode: AI doomers touch grass at a monthly Bay Area picnic, the personal savings rate ebbs to a 4-year low, and Kai explains central bankers’ balance sheet agita.

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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:

• A frozen job market means nobody's getting laid off, but nobody's getting hired
• Only in San Francisco: A picnic to discuss AI risk
• Not too big, not too small: The just-right Fed balance sheet
• Here's where home heating will cost more this winter
• Americans are saving less money — some can't afford to, others are focused on investing
• Using retirement to finally dig into family history

The S&P 500 has hit more than two dozen record highs this year, and it’s got AI firms to thank. In fact, it’s easy to forget that a lot of other public companies are in a tough spot. In this episode, why there’s a widening bifurcation of the stock market. Plus: Rising auto loan delinquencies could be a warning sign for broader consumer strife, financial institutions kick off Q3 earnings season, and Kai explains what the yield curve tells us about the bond market.

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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:

• The stock market gap between AI and everything else is growing
• What to watch for in next week's Q3 earnings
• "Circular spaghetti": What the tangled AI supply chain means for regulation
• Want to know what the bond market is thinking? Check out the yield curve
• Rising auto loan delinquencies reflect the K-shaped economy

We got fresh data showing imports and inventory levels are up. Is it a sign of a strong economy, or a sign businesses are bracing for impact? In this episode, AI remains a major driver of this strange economy. Plus: The U.S. is simultaneously importing and exporting a ton of semiconductors, the euro drops to a 17-month low, and monetary policy disproportionately impacts Black employment rates.

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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:

• Imports and inventories are rising. Does that mean the economy is strong?
• Semiconductor imports and exports have been rising all year
• The Black-white employment gap is growing. What's that say about the economy?
• Sometimes quitting a job is a "real sign of strength"
• France's debt pushes the euro to 17-month low
• World Cup business keeps kicking after the final whistle

Despite Trump’s best efforts (a flurry of loosely targeted tariffs), the U.S. trade deficit is widening. But why is it widening? And what does it all have to do with foreign investment in government debt and the strength of the U.S. dollar? We’ll explain. Plus: Electric truck sales rev up amid record-high diesel prices, a 19th-century novelist popularized economic theory for her broad audience, and investors prep for upcoming Treasury auctions.

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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:

• What exactly are investors looking for in this week's government bond auctions?
• The U.S. dollar is at its strongest in 18 months
• The Regency-era novelist who popularized economics through her books
• Here's why the trade deficit is growing
• As diesel prices soar, so do electric truck sales
• The algorithm knows you have a baby, and it will exploit that

In Nike’s earnings report this week, the brand said it may begin shrinking its operations and laying off workers. It’s been losing market share for a while now. We look at what went wrong in the last decade. Also in this episode: the government-funded EV discounts that still remain, the business of affiliate links, and a former business owner’s mini retirement during fatherhood.

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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:

• An unsettling economic picture
• Can Nike get its mojo back?
• A year after federal EV tax credits ended, a patchwork of state EV incentives remains
• Here, take my link! The rise of affiliate links
• How becoming a dad brought this outdoorsman full-circle

The PCE price index (that's the Fed's preferred measure of inflation) held steady year-over-year in the latest report. Economists expected it to move up. So, why didn't it budge -- and why aren't we all celebrating? Also in this episode: Seasonal work is hard to find so far this fall, Trump's immigration crackdown weakens construction productivity in South Texas, and Kai explains the long-term implications of rising borrowing costs.

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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:

• The Fed's preferred inflation measure was lower than expected in August. Is that a good thing?
• Can the U.S. just grow its way out of debt?
• Immigration crackdown adds delays, costs to South Texas construction
• More people are looking for seasonal work this year. So far, it's hard to find
• There are more private security guards than police. How much are they paid?

OpenAI just announced it will delay its IPO due to ongoing AI safety concerns. But when you’re a company as big as OpenAI, where does your funding come from? In this episode, venture capital doesn’t cut it. Plus: Second quarter GDP was revised up thanks to all that corporate AI investment, Kai breaks down why the labor market is kinda like a bathtub, and farmers turn to agritainment as crop revenue shrinks.

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:

• Second quarter GDP growth is brought to you by the letters A and I
• Why full employment is like filling a bathtub with water
• OpenAI delayed its IPO. That makes private investors happy
• Corn mazes, apple picking, and hayrides: More farms are leaning into "agritourism"
• Is your Dijon spicy? Heat and drought might be the cause
• How "Neon Tom" made a 40-year career out of neon signs