It's like the nasty surprise of checking your credit score and finding it low, only the

score is for the biggest economy in the world.

I'm David Brancaccio in New York.

The Fitch Credit Rating Agency has been reviewing the credit rating of the United States

of America, and the results are now in, a downgrade by one step.

It's because Washington works or doesn't work the way it does.

This could cause taxpayers more when the government borrows, Marketplace's Nova Sofo has more.

The decision by Fitch surprised the Biden administration and Wall Street analysts since

the latest debt ceiling standoff is two months behind us.

But the problem Fitch said is that it was the latest debt ceiling standoff, likely not

the last.

Meanwhile, the debt burdens of federal, state, and local governments continue to rise, downgrading

the U.S. from AAA status to AA+, might raise borrowing costs for the Treasury Department,

which issues U.S. government bonds.

It might, or it might not, since it's already happened before.

During the Obama administration in 2011, Standard and Pours was the first to downgrade U.S.

debt because of a debt ceiling standoff then.

At that point, U.S. borrowing costs did rise by an estimated $1.3 billion.

I'm Nova Sofo for Marketplace.

Now, some companies project the vibe they're making the world a better place.

This social impact framing, as it's called, can attract customers and job applicants,

but new data show working for a do-gooder company can mean less pay Marketplace's Mitchell

...