The savings rate fell, debt rose, and the economy shrugged — so far
Households spent down pandemic savings and borrowed to keep pace. The uncomfortable question is what happens when the buffer runs out.
Lena Fischer · August 10, 2026
Economic coverage written from the employee and employer perspective at once. Topics include wage growth, hiring and layoff data, labor supply in particular trades, and household costs that determine whether workers can afford to move jobs. Each piece connects a national number to a decision being made inside an ordinary company.
Households spent down pandemic savings and borrowed to keep pace. The uncomfortable question is what happens when the buffer runs out.
Lena Fischer · August 10, 2026
Trillion-dollar industrial and infrastructure programs are colliding with a craft-labor supply two decades in the making — and wages tell the story faster than the payroll data.
Lena Fischer · July 18, 2026
Initial unemployment claims is the fastest, cleanest recession signal in the economic data — if you know what it's actually measuring.
Amara Okonkwo · June 25, 2026
The 2025 tariff wave showed up in washing machines, tools, and toys faster than in headline inflation. The pass-through was real; the timing was the surprise.
Lena Fischer · June 3, 2026
Labor productivity grew faster after the pandemic than in the decade before it. The explanations range from remote work to compositional churn, and the answer is probably all of them.
Amara Okonkwo · May 11, 2026