Back to the office … kinda

Marketplace

News, Business

4.6 • 8.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Last week, office occupancy rates in major cities hit a milestone, reaching half of their pre-pandemic levels. While most places feel just as crowded as they did before, offices are an exception. Today, a closer look at the sluggish return to office buildings. Plus, the house behind the pitchfork in “American Gothic” and how homebuyers are feeling about higher mortgage rates.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Have you ever been caught out by payments you've forgotten about?
0:03.2	Join over 2.5 million customers who are already using the Lloyd's Bank upcoming payments tool on our app.
0:09.8	It gives you early sight of regular payments that are due to leave your account in the next 31 days
0:15.7	to avoid any surprises.
0:17.7	It's just one of our many useful tools that can help you stay on top of your money.
0:22.4	To find out more, go to Lloydsbank.com forward slash cost of living.
0:27.0	Lloydsbank by your side.
0:32.0	On the program today, the house behind a very, very famous painting.
0:39.6	From American public media, this is Marketplace.
0:44.6	In Los Angeles, I'm Kai Rizdal. It is Thursday.
0:54.6	Today, this one is the second of February.
0:57.6	It is always to have you along.
0:59.6	Everybody, a data point or two, actually three data points.
1:03.6	As we begin today, points one and two, though, are of a piece updates from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank on their interest rate inclinations.
1:11.6	Both of them bumped their benchmark rates half a percentage point today, continuing the Global Central Bank high cup of loser after the Fed yesterday.
1:20.6	The European Central Bank's right in line with J. Powell and the Fed, they are promising to stay the course until inflation is completely dead, not just mostly dead.
1:29.6	The Bank of England, not quite as steadfast, hinting today it might take a pause depending on how the economy over there goes.
1:37.6	The economy over here for all the talk of trouble ahead and there is plenty.
1:41.6	It continues really to look not so bad. The labor market in particular, data point number three today is the weekly report on first time claims for unemployment that we get every Thursday down again to 183,000 people applying for jobless benefits for the first time.
1:57.6	That is a nine month low related in a way is this item for the first time since the before times average office occupancy.
2:06.6	The average office occupancy rates in 10 major cities have hit 50% of where they used to be. That's from castle systems. They track people swiping their key cards in and out of big office buildings.
2:17.6	The question of course is what is one to make of that that we are now halfway back to where we were three years ago.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Marketplace, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Marketplace and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.