Cargo theft ramps up

Marketplace

Business, News

4.6 • 8.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2026

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Retail theft” often conjures Hollywood-esque heist scenes or sleight of hand at self-checkout. But 2025 was likely the biggest year on record for another, less glamorous kind of shrinkage: cargo theft. In this episode, how goods stolen right out of a truck raise costs for producers, logistics firms, and yes, consumers. Plus: More data centers plan to build their own natural gas plants, private sector data shows labor market growth is slow but steadying, and Kai visits an award-winning chef in South Los Angeles.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay, look, fish tacos. That's all I'm saying.
0:05.7	From American public media, this is Market Plants.
0:14.6	In Los Angeles, I'm Kai Rizzdahl.
0:21.1	It is Wednesday.
0:22.5	Today, this one is the 4th of February.
0:24.6	Good as always to have you along, everybody.
0:26.9	We begin on this Wednesday, as we are wont to do from time to time, with an eye on the economic calendar.
0:33.1	The Bureau of Labor Statistics no longer shut down told us this morning that the January
0:38.9	unemployment report originally due on Friday will now show up on Wednesday next, which
0:44.9	great, but at this point, can you blame us for trying to find other ways to measure the labor
0:50.9	market at this fraught moment. The payroll processing company ADP said this morning,
0:55.8	the economy added just 22,000 jobs in January. Marketplace's Subri Benshore spent his day
1:02.3	reading those labor market tea leaves. Clarence Clue is 43. He's his own boss. He's worked in
1:08.5	PR in New York for a long time. And he is thinking it is time to branch out.
1:14.3	I see the writing on the wall for the industry in itself.
1:18.5	Businesses are still figuring out AI.
1:20.4	Budgets are on hold.
1:21.4	So he's looking for all kinds of positions.
1:24.0	The world around us is changing rapidly.
1:26.3	I think we should be open to evolving as well.
1:29.6	Easier said than done. How do I feel about the market right now? Honestly, I think it's a bit
1:35.3	terrifying. Clue's not alone in feeling that way. Consumer sentiment is still depressed. That said,
	...

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