Marketplace All-in-One Turns out, customers like when things are cheaper
Feb 12, 2026
Elisa Roth, a Berlin-based marketplace correspondent who covers immigration and labor markets, discusses price cuts at big food companies and why cheaper snacks are drawing customers. She also covers large revisions to U.S. jobs data and Germany's push to recruit skilled tech workers from abroad. Short, sharp takes on shifting data and global labor moves.
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Price Cuts Lift Sales
- Lowering menu prices attracted more lower-income customers to McDonald's and boosted same-store sales in late 2025.
- PepsiCo also cut snack prices, showing firms see demand gains from cheaper prices.
Big Revisions Reflect Rapid Change
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised last year's job gains down by about 900,000, highlighting data volatility.
- Diane Swank says rapid economic change makes early data less granular and prone to big later revisions.
Tariffs, Inventories, And Margin Pressure
- The economy is shifting after the April 2025 tariff shocks, with job gains stalling then concentrating in health care.
- Firms face margin compression as pre-tariff inventories deplete and higher costs get passed on.