Less is not always more in economic data

It’s Friday, folks! Today we’re talking about some news coming from former President Donald Trump, who has vowed to take away key spending powers from Congress if reelected. We’ll get into what that would mean in practice. Plus, we’ll talk through the latest from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which just announced it’ll be decreasing the number of households surveyed for important reports like the monthly jobs report. It’s a move that will make decoding what’s going on in our economy more a little more challenging. Plus, we’ll get into Bazooka gum, the rise of Uncrustables and Forever Stamps getting more expensive during a round of Half Full/Half Empty.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “US Jobs Household Survey Size to Be Cut Due to Budget Constraints” from Bloomberg
• “Trump plans to claim sweeping powers to cancel federal spending” from The Washington Post 
• “Does Texas need its own stock exchange?” from Marketplace
• “From school cafeterias to professional athletes, Uncrustables sandwiches are everywhere” from Marketplace
• “Bazooka Candy’s CEO on the brand’s sweet athlete investment deal” from Marketplace
• “Some New Yorkers are pushing for open streets to be permanent” from Marketplace
• “Forever stamps are about to get more expensive — again” from Marketplace

We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.