Marketplace Gas vs. gas
5 snips
Apr 3, 2026 Jackie Harris, reporter who covers New England's changing local stores. Tom Closey, energy advisor explaining crude benchmarks and futures. Kaylee Wells, reporter on slowing wage growth. Heather Long, chief economist analyzing labor and spending. They discuss historic country stores reinventing themselves. They dig into oil vs natural gas price divergence. They explore choppy wage trends and who bears the burden.
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Retail Looks Fine Now But War Risk Looms
- Retail spending still looked solid in March but doesn't yet reflect the war's economic impact.
- Jordan Holman reports CEOs warn continued high oil prices would eventually hit consumers and corporate margins.
Card Data Shows Pump And Airfare Surges
- Real-time card data shows March spending held up with surges at the pump and airlines.
- Heather Long says people booked airfare for summer quickly and overall spending still looked pretty good in March.
One Month Drop Could Become Real Wage Contraction
- Monthly wage data shows a slowdown: year-over-year wages up 3.5% but month-to-month rise is the slowest in nearly five years.
- Economists warn that if inflation accelerates due to the war, real wages could contract, hitting discretionary sectors.