Gen Z and Solo Maxing Trends

We'll do an update on where this economy stands. We'll do taxes too Sorry about that, and we'll spend some time alone Fr American public media This is market play In Los Angeles, I'm Ky Risnell. It is Thursday today. This one is the twenty fifth of June. goodood as it always is to have you along, everybody This is a day of data in this economy of ours, data about prices and data about growth four point one percent is the headline price level data point, as you have likely already heard today. The personal consonsumption expenditures price index for May And that four point one percent is faster than April inflation, as you do not need me to tell you. most of it thanks to energy and the president's war in Iran. So with energy on its way back down now on the theory that the ceasefire is going to hold, We are going to do what the Federal Reserve likes to do. spepend some time on all the other inflation happening in this economy. The core rate, as it's called. As Marketplace Justin Ho reports picking up two The rise in core inflation really started in April of last year when the president announced his import taxes Those tariffs did push additional price pressures into the economy, particularly for the price of goods. Tim Dewey is Chief US economist at SGH Macro Advisors. He says later last year, core inflation started to hit services too So that could be anything from you know, insurance or services, financial services, food services, accommodations. Dewy says the delay could be because tariffs took a little time to impact other costs, but it could also be because demand was strong thanks to a good jobs market The labor market did seem to turn stronger at the end of last year And I would note that Really some of our biggest accelerations and the inflation started in December, January and into March. The war in the Middle East is boosting core inflation too Jeffy Roach, as Chief economist at LPL Financial Think of logistics costs, thinkink of transportation costs Roach says that's increased the price of goods, and that in turn is boosting the cost of services, including healthcare When you think about the impact on the costs of the materials those professionals use It starts to make sense understanding why, for example, dental services is up over eight percent from a year ago It willll take some time for the war's knock on effects on prices to subside Michael Pierce, is Chief U S. economist at Oxford Economics. you look at gasoline prices, they've fallen back, but they're still about a dollar above where they were before the war. And it's going to take time for that to normalize. Meanwhile, Aeer says there's still plenty of demand keeping prices high And overall, the labor market is still in good shape Our expectation is that the labour market will be broadly stable this year that we'll see the unemployment rate remain pretty close to where it is And that could keep pressure on prices to keep heading upward throughout the year I'm Justin How for Marketplace The Grth data pointoint Dujour is the third and final look at gross domestic product for the first quarter of the year. It came to us courtesy of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which told us this morning, the economy grew at an annualized rate of two point one percent January through March. That was a revision up from the last guess, which was one point six percent whichich is nice but it's not the whole story. Consumer spending was revised down and the overall GDP number was boosted in part because we imported less stuff than people had originally thought. What might that mean for the economy yet to come H's Metplace Henry A. These GDP numbers measure where the economy was several months ago, but they can give us something of a baseline for the rest of the year. The new data released today actually make that baseline look a bit lower than expected, says Tuan Wuen, an economist at RSM You put softer spending growth and lower imports together You get a much weaker picture of the American consumer in the first quarter Not great, given that consumer spending makes up close to seventy percent of GDP. But there are different ways you can look at where economic growth might go from here. The glass half full view, the worst of the oil price spike, which was a drag on consumer spending and ate into corporate profits, might be behind us. Most of the impact of the Iran war was actually fellt in the first quarter. And if oil keeps falling, consumers might have a bit more spending power, says Eugenio Alaman, chief economist at Raymond James, which is a marketplace underwriter. I think that things are going to improve for for the American consumer And as long as D The job market remains strong. I think that the economy is in a good path. The glass half empty view. Yeah, the job market is pretty good, but wages are not keeping up with high inflation. Sarah House is a senior economist at Wells Fargo. Those paychecks still aren't rising very quickly and with that inflation backdrop is just it's hard for consumers to really ramp up their spending right now Plus in the first quarter, consumers were getting a boost from higher than usual tax refunds. As you get to the second half, a lot of that money's already been spent. Still, there's a lot of corporate investment going on right now, so House thinks economic growth might plod along the rest of the year. Ethan Struby, an assistant prorofessor of economics at Stain. Olaf College has a similar view without like Big changes to population growth, big changes to, you know productivity, that kind of thing, then we're just not going to see much faster than two percent growth Very often. So in that sense, first quarter GDP might be a sign of things to come I'm Henry App for Marketplace Wall Street as the week winds down, the Chip Baker Micron technologies blew the doors off its earnings forecast yesterday. That was small solace to triters who've gotten the AI jitters. We will have the details when we do the number We got all kinds of different taxes in this country. Inome taxes, sales taxes, social seecurity taxes, and property taxes. Those property taxes tyypically go to towns and counties for public services, think fire departments, libraries, ambulances and roads They're just one of the things you got to pay until you don't. At least eighteen states are looking at cutting or even eliminating their property taxes So Marketplace of Kale and Tan is going to take us to a state where that has already happened see how it's working out. Like many places during COVID, home values skyrocketed in Wyoming's little mountain towns. People were coming in from out of state, they were paying cash offers, they were paying over asking price. And so that just made the market go up. Hank Coversland with the Wyoming Taxpayers Association says property taxes followed, meaning longtime Wyomingites were suddenly paying a lot more, and that led state lawmakers to lower them last year by twenty five percent saving a homeowner a few hundred bucks, but costing towns and counties tens of millions in revenue There really isn't a plan to make up these revenues. And so it's going to come on the backs of spending cuts the library in the small town of Land or Wyoming where I meet director Anita Marble. She's wearing a Dr. Sus's t shirt that says, Ohh the places you'll go when you read Sometimes I just wear this shirt to remind me of, okay, here's our mission Oh So come on in. Okayome. was your weekend. Marble actually spent the weekend going over a difficult budget. These days, the library's doors are locked and the lights are out more often. You're here on a Monday morning and we're closed until one PM. They used to open at ten on Mondays They've trimmed hours on other days too, and they got rid of three part time phicians. It's all about staffing and having the ability to have people here to serve the public. The library lost about three hundred thousand dollars in local residential property tax revenue last year. Similar cuts were seen all across the state Jeremiah Reman with the Wyman County Commissioners' Association says one rural county cut its emergency management budget in half. then we saw wildfires in their community, which An unfortunate element of all of this Another fire district cut overtim and briefly shut down a fire station. Another county is looking to their roads to save money In other words, just shutting those roads down or maybe paved roads are going to go back to gravel simply because they don't have the resources to care for those and more cuts could be coming. This fall, Wyoming voters will get a say if they want an even bigger break on residential property taxes through a ballot initiative And lawmakers are discussing eliminating property taxes altogether I also think one of the things that we're not seeing come up in the conversation is If not property tax, then what what is it that you propose that we use to fund these services It won't be income tax. Wyoming doesn't have it Some say raising sales tax is the answer. It currently averages about five and a half percent For now, public services will have to make do with less Something Hank Hoversland with the Wyoming State Taxpayers Association doesn't advise. But I think other places are looking to Wyoming and saying, can they do it We have proven that we can't do it At least not without pain At The Lander Lbrary Anina Marple finishes our tour when she spots a couple of people giving the locked library doors a tug And we're closed and that just it breaks my heart when I feel like we ought to be open and we can't be It'll still be a few more hours before the library will turn on the lights, unlock the doors, and people can check out books, use the WiFi, and hang out In Land or, Wyoming, I'm Kaitln Tan from Marketplace Justin was telling us earlier about core inflation that is price levels less food and energy, which always seems odd because we all need energy and food too. And those prices, as you know going up The national average for a pounded chuck is six dollars and seventy cents, almost a buck up from the same time a year ago Price of beef at your local grocery store doesn't tell the whole story for American ranchers So we've called Nathan Bradford, he's the owner and operator of GLine Ranch is in Bole, Oklahom . You know here at the ranch, with the inflation, the cattle market is good. It's been on to increase. att least once a month. I'm hearing some record prices The problem is the banking system It's not keeping up I feel like that the c number is probably going to end up being smaller, the amount of producers is going to keep declining justust because we don't get the financing Once you used to borrow a hundred thousand dollars now it's like thirty thousand dollars just to do the same kind of work. It's going to be really hard and challenging for America to see be prices come down just because the simple fact is There is no resources that's in and out You know, the mainstreet on her Like theyre doing on here on Wall Street If the Struber worm hits the heart of Oklahoma. It's going to be a pretty devastating deal So what we're trying to do is Apply fly replairement. ono our cattle spram as often as we can And then we're looking at buying some mineral supplements that has repellin in it as well that will stop the reproduction, the other fly But there's not much we can do It's just the simple fact that we already have a shortage of veterinarians in the United States, especially large animal vets I don't think that the veterinarians that inside Oklahoma can handle the amount of workload that's going to be generated. This screwm bill, you have to get those wounds healed up And that means you got to have a proper and right facility to catch those animals Everybody doesn't have that. I'm scouttered out in two different counties and I can't I can't do it at the end of the day way I feel today It's really kind of sounding in a heartrope. because What we thought that once was is no longered. is what it seems like I've seen several farmers go of business. So You think about The experience. I looked at my neighbors experience that these farmers and ranchers have they're taken into the grave with them and there's nobody to replace them. But you know, in this ranching world, in this rodeo world, sometimes you have to tile off your rope to your saddle horn and When you hook up, whatever happens happens, you know what I mean But we're going to be in a world of trouble if something doesn't change Nathan Bradford down his rope up to the Saddle horn, Jeline Ranch Bowlely, Oklahoma Coming up, Younger generations just embracing being single. Solo maxing is the word you are looking for first though, let's do the numbers. Now indndustrial is up seventy one points today a tenth percent, fifty one thousand nine hundred and twenty. then NASDAq down one hundred and eighteen points about a half percent, twenty five thousand three hundred fifty eight S and P five hundred basically flat seventy three fifty seven Darden were restaurants reported earnings today that beat estimates. Consumers were resilient, the CEO said, but cautious with an increase in visits from all income groups, including those at the bottom. Darden which owns Olive Garden and a Longhorn Steakhouse down three tenths of one percent on the day. Kaitlin Tan was talking about eliminating or reducing property taxes Int it, home to the Turbo tax family of taxes. software contracted two and seven tenth percent H andR block Back one and a half percent on the day. Bond prices down the yield on the tenure te notote rose four point three nineer percent You are listening to marketplace This is Marketplace. I'm Ki Risdol. freight in this economy, the getting of goods from there to here comes in a couple of three main varieties. Tucking, that's the lion's share air freight when you got to get whatever it is moved real quick And then ships Coastal ports tend to get all the glory because that's where a lot of the stuff you buy on Amazon comes into the country But some of the busiest ports in this country are on the Great Lakes. Last weekend, A group of people who understand just how important Great Lake shipping is gather to pray for fair winds and following seas. F from Astbula, Ohio, Marketplaces Kellley Wells report Since the nineteen forties, the residents of this city in the very northeast corner of Ohio have been gathering where the Astbula River flows into Lake Erie after the lake has thawed and the freighters have set sail Welcome to the seventy seventh annual Blessing of the fleet here in the beautiful Ashabila Harbor on the banks of the Ashabila River. The program features a memorial service for fallen sailors prayer led by a retired priest from the local Catholic Church Protect them from the dangers of wind and rain. and all the perils of the deep Folks here take this seriously because Lake Erie on a perfect June day may not look perilous, but Holy mackerel. Christine Seft of the Community Association that hosted today's event, says looks can be deceiving When it blows up on Lake Erie, it blows up quick Shallower water means storms make waves much faster and closer together Federal Saway pilot Gunar Luta, who's sitting quietly in the audience, has experienced the rough seas of Lake Erie before, like on Christmas Eve twenty five years ago We were taking waves over the top of the pilot house. We lost our lifeboat lost everything except for our GPS, lost our radar And I was able to navigate into the harbor using an old paper chart. Luta says his job's only getting busier every year, with hundreds of ships and billions of dollars of cargo passing through Lake Erie annually. Expand that to include the Great Lakes and inland waterways, and it's nearly seven hundred million tons of cargo every year, according to the American Great Lakes Ports Association A lot of steel and a lot of grain, those are the primary things. but there's also project cargo like windmill parts, mast sections and blades for windmills and engines and all sorts of stuff All of that travels on the Great Lakes because they're close to a lot of steel mills and grain growing areas. The cargo is the grain that'll feed the cow that'll end up on your fourourth of July burger, the steel that'll go into your next car, the salt that'll make your roads safer next winter. S of which comes from a giant salt mine underneath Lake Erie, not far from Ashtabula Jonathan Ernest is an economics professor at Case Western Reserve University The most efficient way to ship a whole bunch of salt that you m under the lake is to ship it on top of the lake versus putting it out a whole whole lot of trucks and trying to send it that way shhips cut down on fuel use, pollution, and road congestion, And they save money So the demand for them on the Great Lakes isn't going anywhere which also means pray that those who use These boats and ships that residents of Burns Harbor, Indiana and Bayfield, Wisconsin and Harbor Springs, Michigan are going to keep showing up to their respective harbors every year. and do what they can to make sure those ships get where they're supposed to go Any man In Ashubila, Ohio, I'm Kaylee Wells for Marketplace There was a story in Fortune the other day that caught my eye as much for the headline as for what the story seemed really to be about Gen Z is rejecting two hundred dollars dates and choosing solo maxing, the headline read. That's maxing with two X's by the way Solo maxing and dating apps are taking a hit just to finish the headline Syidney Lake is an associate editor at Fortune. She had the by line on the piece. Siddy welcome to the program. Good to have you y on Thanks so much for having me. Just so we're all using the same terminology here, solo maxing. what Is it Yeah, so solo maxing. If you have been on social media or just the internet in general the past few months, there have been a lot of different plays on the word maxing, which just basically means maximizing something. You know, you might have heard it in the context of looks maxing, protein maxing, whatever it may be But solo maxing really is about younger generations. embracing being single Being single and not dating because at least for some cause and effect here, it's expensive out there is very expensive. From my research, it's showing that Gen Z and millennials are spending around hundred dollars or so to go Re. I mean, I haven't dated in a very long time, but ouch. Yeah. restestaurant prices, going to the movies, everything is Just crazy expensive out there So what then happens? Because look, as you know, because you've done this reporting, we are in a long epidemic of loneliness and people just not having enough interaction, it's screens, it's the pandemic, it's all of that And now it seems people are kind of anyway, the younger generation are kind of making that choice actively. Right? Yeah. in a lot of cases, there're justust really embracing this. You know, some of it comes from stating up burnout. some of it is just embracing financial security They don't really see it necessarily as avoidance or isolation, it's what they're saying is self care. U It is definitely not self care for a lot of these dating apps though, right? I mean, they're seeing this sort of in the bottom line Yeah, so dating apps really ever since the pandemic have seen some ups and downs, but Gen Z especially has been pretty reluctant to go the dating app route. A lot of the major dating app companies are working tirelessly to, you know figure figure this whole thing out because they they had been so so popular, especially during the pandemic era. Right. There is even at least one dating app out there that offers like budget services, right? Like if you don't feel like spending a lot of money on a dating app, try us. Yeah, I've heard of that and you know, some some other dating apps, you know, have done some promos here and there of Hey, we'll give you a free ride credit, you know, gas or taking a lift or an Uber is financially restrictive. You know, someome have been saying, hey, we'll cover that for you. So there's some clever workarounds. This seems kind of just to get subjective about this for a minute It seems kind of sad No, it is. Dating off culture has I think really changed the outlook for A lot of younger generations, social media certainly plays a role in it, at least I think. but You know, at the same time, it can also be healthy to have att least a little bit of time here and there to focus on yourself So, you know, I'm hopeful and I'm seeing more things here and there of people embracing in person things like concerts, going out to eat, that sort of thing. but you know, then obviously on the flip side, everything is more expensive too. So it's hard out there It is hard out there Sdney Lake, She's a forortune. Syney thanks a lot. I appreciate your time Thank you so much for having me This final note on the way out today in which the data backs up that whole solo maxing thing that Siddney Lake and I were just talking about The Census Bureau released its annual time use survey today, literally how Americans have been spending their time in the preceding year Shout out, by the way to economist Jooy Politano for spotting this The amount of time we spent socializing in person is down again, just thirty five minutes a day up a bit from its pandemic low, but still down ten percent from twenty nineteen off twenty five percent two thousand three Our daily production team includes Andy Corbin, Maria Hoanhor, Sarah Lucis, Seawn Mceny and S Fit Rzo. Bullstory is the supervising senior producer and I'm Kyi Rzal. We will see you tomorr, everybody This is A PM