Marketplace

Below is a copy of the latest Daily Wrap email from Marketplace.
Sign up for the Marketplace Daily Wrap to receive updates directly in your inbox each weekday evening.

We hope you enjoy today's briefing from Marketplace. Subscribe to more Marketplace newsletters here.

"Reporting is valuable and expensive and I want to do my piece."

— Nathan, a Marketplace Investor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Since federal funding was cut last year, your support is more important than ever. Help keep our reporting free and accessible to all, for years to come.

DONATE TODAY

If you don’t have a high school diploma, you’re making about $10,000 less than your peers who do.

But a certificate from mostly free adult education programs can close that gap. It’s one way to fight the affordability crisis and the growing divide between lower- and upper-income households. We’ll do more numbers on the K-shaped economy below, along with personal finance news. Plus, we’ll explain why retail investors are filling up on chips and snackers are paying full price for Funyuns. Sarah Asch of the Texas Standard starts us off with a look at adult education and how it can benefit the entire economy. — Carrie Barber, newsletter editor

Three adults sharing a desk get help from a teacher in a classroom.

Members of the Haitian community in Spring Valley, New York, attend an English as a second languge class. (Erica S. Lee for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

As the cost of living rises, adult education programs offer one path to earning more

A better job means people pay more taxes and have more money to spend, boosting the economy.

In a packed auditorium at Austin Community College’s Eastview Campus, Suha Kavakli addressed students being inducted into the National Adult Education Honor Society.

Kavakli was inducted last year and had a simple message for her fellow students: “I will pursue my future with determination.”

Kavakli is no stranger to determination. In 2010, when she was 17, Kavakli moved from Iraq to Austin as a Palestinian refugee, with no high school diploma in tow. Schooling wasn't so easy for her in Texas, either.

“I was bullied a lot for not speaking English, for wearing a scarf,” she said. “I wasn't expecting it to be that much.”

She dropped out after three months, got married, and had two kids. Then, in 2021, she decided to get her GED so she could have a career of her own.

“My husband told me, go to school. Don't just be at home,” she said. “Don't wait for anybody to do things for you. You fight for yourself.”

Living in the U.S. is becoming less affordable. A study by the Urban Institute showed people are struggling to pay for essentials like food, childcare, and housing. This is a complex problem, but one area of hope is adult education programs, which can help people increase their ability to earn as prices rise.

The hope of better earnings is often what drives people into GED classes, as earning potential goes up when adult education students get the certificate. Improving educational outcomes for adults is one way to combat the affordability crisis, said Sharon Bonney, CEO of the Coalition on Adult Basic Education.

“There have been studies done that show for every dollar given to adult education, there's a $60 return to the economy,” she said. “Because it helps [people] to get a better job.”

News you should know

Let’s do the numbers

Stocks stayed in record-high territory today . The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and Nasdaq composite added 0.1% from their previous highs Friday. The Dow gained 0.2%. Apparently Wall Street didn’t care President Donald Trump said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was on “life support.”
But the oil market did. A barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 2.9% to $104.21. A gallon of regular gas averaged $4.52.
Individual investors are piling into chip stocks, like Intel and Micron, causing prices to soar. Is this a sign that the artificial intelligence boom is headed for a bust?
The consumer price index is due for an update tomorrow, and smart money is forecasting an increase to 3.8% year-over-year in April. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, is expected to jump later in the year.

Your money

Airfares on former Spirit routes could rise as much as 15% to 20% if no other ultra low-cost carriers take them over. But rising jet fuel prices may make it hard to tell what’s driving fares up at first.
The K-shaped economy is getting even more stratified thanks to high gas prices. A New York Fed study found the gap between high- and low-income households is wider now than when gas prices spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine.
More Americans are dipping into their savings to make ends meet. The personal savings rate was 3.6% in March, the lowest since 2022.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Any time we lose a homegrown company, and they go under, and they're the size of Spirit, it'll take the wind out of your sails.”

— Dan Lindblade, CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

When Spirit Airlines folded earlier this month, it was a blow to its main hub, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Some 4,000 airline employees live in the area, and “de-hub-ing” has broader ripple effects for the regional economy.

Cleveland knows this pain well. After Continental merged with United Airlines in 2010, the city’s airport lost dozens of direct flights, and a shiny new terminal sat unused. One key difference: Ohio is less of a spring break destination.

HEAR MORE

Economic reporting shouldn't be out of reach. Your gift ensures everyone can make sense of the economy.

An opened bright-yellow Funyuns package, with onion-shaped crisps spilling onto a surface.

The Image Party/Shutterstock

Final note

Have you noticed Funyuns almost never go on sale?

Now you will. When you start wondering why, read this.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, subscribe to Marketplace newsletters here.

Got feedback for us? Just reply to this email. We can't get back to everyone, but we read it all.