economics Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Rural areas hit hard by food insecurity, study finds

By Courtney Flatt October 9, 2024

A man in a red and green shirt with blue jeans is standing next to two rows of canned food that's sitting on a table. He is in a small white room with fluorescent lights above him.

Joe Tice, the Tukwila Pantry’s executive director, stocks tables with canned goods at the food bank in Tukwila, Washington. (Credit: Lance Cheung / USDA) Listen (Runtime 1:03) Read Before she […]Read More

Thousands of Northwest jobs could come from new Forest Service plan

By Lauren Paterson December 5, 2023

A sunrise over blue mountains. The mountains are dotted with evergreen trees.

A sunrise over the Rocky Mountains from Rocky Ridge Campground in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests on August 8, 2020 (Credit: Lauren Paterson / NWPB) Listen (Runtime :59) Read A […]Read More

WSU researchers find 41 percent of U.S. women have no abortion access within 30-minute drive

By Rachel Sun November 3, 2023

Researchers at Washington State University found that over 41 percent of American women between the ages of 15 and 49 don’t have access to an abortion provider within a 30-minute drive. Read More

As people move from big cities, Northwest rural communities see economic boost

By Courtney Flatt June 14, 2023

A woman with grey hair in a blue shirt and lots of turquoise jewlery sits at a table with a man in a red button down shirt, blue jeans, and a apron with horses and birds on it. They're sitting at a silver table. On the table are two wine bottles, a plate with cold cuts, a salad, some water glasses, and some other bowls. The wall behind them is bright red and has five cartoon paintings of cats drinking beer.

Markeeta Little Wolf and her husband Mike Hubbard come to American 35 every Saturday. Mike Hubbard has a pizza named after him, called “Mr. Hubbard’s Saturday” (Credit: Courtney Flatt / […]Read More

Can George Washington Buy Wooden Teeth With This Washington Town’s New Wooden Money?

By NWPB News May 8, 2020

The design for wooden money Tenino, Washington, plans to print in response to the COVID-19 crisis, modeled after a Depression-era effort.

Tenino, a small town in Thurston County, Washington, has approved a plan to print its own money on strips of wood. Again. It’s a response to the COVID-19 crisis that’s modeled after how the town responded to a prior crisis — the Great Depression.Read More

Washington-Oregon-California Governors Announce ‘Pact’ For Reopening Economies

By NWPB News April 14, 2020

File photo. Porter Hahn makes an iced coffee drink in November 2019 in a Seattle coffee shop. U.S. services companies grew at a faster pace in February 2020 than the previous month. Then the coronavirus outbreak in the region shut down much of the service industry. CREDIT: Elaine Thompson/AP

With President Donald Trump suggesting he has authority to unilaterally re-open businesses around the country, West Coast governors on Monday presented a united front, saying they’ll only lift restrictions when public health data suggests they can.Read More

Great Recession Recovery Effort Shaped A Key Part Of Joe Biden’s Record

By NPR News April 12, 2020

In 2010, Vice President Joe Biden speaks to construction workers at the Brooklyn Bridge, marking a renovation project which was partly funded by money from the 2009 Recovery Act. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Facing economic peril in 2009, "Sheriff Joe" Biden was in charge of how federal stimulus dollars were spent. It's experience he may compare with President Trump's response to the coronavirus.Read More

What Is An Endangered Species Worth? New Federal Rule Updates Calculation — And Sparks Debate

By PBS Newshour August 23, 2019

A grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. (Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

What is the cost to the economy when an animal is listed as an endangered species? The Trump administration could soon start to publicize that calculation, along with the cost and benefits of categorizing an animal that way, under new rules it finalized earlier this month.Read More

A Yield Curve Inversion Just Happened. It’s Done So Before The Last 7 U.S. Recessions

By NPR News July 1, 2019

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange. An economic indicator known as the "yield curve inversion" hit the three-month mark, which has preceded the past 7 U.S. recessions. Richard Drew/AP

An inauspicious milestone was achieved on Sunday: the yield curve remained inverted for three months, which has for almost half a century preceded economic recessions.Read More

Market Saturation: Why So Many Farmers Markets Are Failing

By NPR News March 17, 2019

Nationwide, there are too few farmers to populate market stalls and too few customers filling their canvas bags with fresh produce at each market. Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

Farmers aren't producing enough to keep up with the number of smaller markets that keep popping up, often in close proximity to others. This results in fewer customers, unsold food and maybe closure.Read More