Mitchell Hartman

Correspondent

SHORT BIO

Mitchell’s most important job at Marketplace is to explain the economy in ways that non-expert, non-business people can understand. Michell thinks of his audience as anyone who works, whether for money or not, and lives in the economy . . . which is most people.

Mitchell wants to understand, and help people understand, how the economy works, who it helps, who it hurts and why. Mitchell gets to cover what he thinks are some of the most interesting aspects of the economy: wages and inflation, consumer psychology, wealth inequality, economic theory and how it measures up to economic reality.

Mitchell was a high school newspaper nerd and a college newspaper editor. He has worked for The Philadelphia Inquirer, WXPN-FM, WBAI-FM, KPFK-FM, Pacifica Radio, the CBC, the BBC, Monitor Radio, Cairo Today Magazine, The Jordan Times, The Middletown Press, The New Haven Register, Oregon Business Magazine, the Reed College Alumni Magazine, and Marketplace (twice — 1994-2001 & 2008-present).

Mitchell has gone on strike (Newspaper Guild vs. Knight Ridder, Philadelphia, 1985) and helped organize a union (with SAG-AFTRA at Marketplace, 2021-23). Mitchell once interviewed Marcel Marceau and got him to talk.

Latest Stories (2,010)

Fed expected to leave benchmark rate unchanged at June meeting. Is that risky?

Jun 10, 2024
The latest jobs report is unlikely to change the Fed's mind when they meet Tuesday and Wednesday.
The latest jobs report is unlikely to change the Fed's mind when they meet Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

How many jobs are being gained or lost due to AI? There are some clues.

Jun 7, 2024
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly survey doesn't track jobs added or subtracted due to AI – at least not yet.
Axel Heimken/AFP via Getty Images

How did the closely watched jobs report get its start?

Jun 6, 2024
The survey of employers was created to help answer puzzling questions about labor.
It wasn't until the recession of 1913-1914 that the Bureau of Labor Statistics began regular surveys of employers.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Will the May jobs report show more of a slowdown in wage growth?

Jun 6, 2024
Wages were running hot two years ago, rising about 6% annually. Things have cooled since then, with April average wages up just under 4%.
Economists expect continued moderation in wages.
Kameleon007/Getty Images

The parts of the economy that make stuff are in a bit of a slump

Jun 5, 2024
The government reports construction spending fell for a second month in April. And factory orders were up less than 1% after being revised down for March.
Over the past few months, manufacturing employment has been stable.
Jim Young/AFP via Getty Images

OPEC+ will extend supply cuts — but that doesn't appear to be raising prices

Jun 4, 2024
The petroleum-producing cartel is trying to push global oil prices higher, but Americans aren't seeing an increase at the gas pump.
Gas prices in the U.S. have actually fallen 13 cents in the past month, according to AAA.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Farewell, Chevy Malibu

May 31, 2024
GM will discontinue the once-popular mid-price family sedan in late 2024, to make way for more EV production at its plant in Kansas City.
A 1965 Chevy Malibu convertible, the Malibu’s second model year, being driven in a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
Courtesy of Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey

High interest rates have frozen the real estate market. When will it thaw?

May 23, 2024
Mortgage rates have popped back up above 7%, sales have fallen and builder sentiment is down. 5% would get things moving, per one economist.
Mortgage rates above 7% weigh on the housing market. Buyers can’t afford the high monthly payments, and sellers don’t want to move and give up their cheap loans.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Weekly jobless claims dip, but they've climbed this spring. What's the takeaway?

May 16, 2024
Recent data indicates some cooling of the job market, but the real number of people laid off may be higher.
The Conference Board reports more Americans anticipate that jobs will be harder to find, and employment and income trends will worsen, in the coming months.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Retail sales figures suggest consumers are pulling back

May 15, 2024
The latest figures, for April, suggest that rising prices, high interest rates and depleted pandemic savings may finally be weighing on spending.
In surveys, consumers report they’re increasingly worn down by inflation, said Morning Consult's Claire Tassin.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images