How one Seattle business is reclaiming the narrative around Native art
May 27, 2021

How one Seattle business is reclaiming the narrative around Native art

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Eighth Generation is a retailer that had to close its Seattle store early in the pandemic but blossomed online. It features wool blankets and other items produced by Native artists. Also, more signs of recovery in new data on orders for long-lasting goods and weekly unemployment aid claims. And, bank profits were up nearly 30% in the first quarter this year, but the same report finds lending fell, driven by a drop in credit card balances. We take a closer look at how consumers are spending.

Segments From this episode

Orders for long-lasting, expensive things give us a pretty good read on recovery

And those orders for April were up, according to data out today, when you strip out the volatile components like aircraft. So-called core capital goods jumped 2.3% last month. Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, says we see strength in the numbers for computers and metals. She says we see weaknesses in chip shortages for motor vehicles, which pulled down the averages. We also got data showing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped again last week. Swonk said it’s great news that they’re continuing the downward trend, but “the bad news is they’re not coming down rapidly.” “We’d like to see big declines right now, given how many jobs we’re still in the hole,” she said.

FDIC says credit card balances dropped in Q1

May 27, 2021
Sure, we're putting some purchases on credit cards, but we're still not getting out the plastic for big travel expenses.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Meet the business reclaiming the narrative around Native art

May 27, 2021
Seattle-based Eighth Generation works with Native artists to create wool blankets and more.
"What we have learned during the pandemic is that we can be confident in consumers' interest in doing the right thing," said Louie Gong, founder and CEO of Eighth Generation.
Courtesy of Ken Yu/Eighth Generation

Music from the episode

The Sticks The Budos Band

The team

Victoria Craig Host, BBC
Stephen Ryan Senior Producer, BBC
Jonathan Frewin Producer, BBC
Daniel Shin Producer
Jay Siebold Technical Director
Brian Allison Engineer
Meredith Garretson Morbey Senior Producer
Erika Soderstrom Producer
Rose Conlon Producer
Alex Schroeder Producer