Prior to his retirement, Robert Siegel was the senior host of NPR's award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered. With 40 years of experience working in radio news, Siegel hosted the country's most-listened-to, afternoon-drive-time news radio program and reported on stories and happenings all over the globe, and reported from a variety of locations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. He signed off in his final broadcast of All Things Considered on January 5, 2018.
John Ydstie has covered the economy, Wall Street, and the Federal Reserve at NPR for nearly three decades. Over the years, NPR has also employed Ydstie's reporting skills to cover major stories like the aftermath of Sept. 11, Hurricane Katrina, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He was a lead reporter in NPR's coverage of the global financial crisis and the Great Recession, as well as the network's coverage of President Trump's economic policies. Ydstie has also been a guest host on the NPR news programs Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Ydstie stepped back from full-time reporting in late 2018, but plans to continue to contribute to NPR through part-time assignments and work on special projects.
Conan's voice graced this network for many years in many ways, always in the name of wonderful radio. Former NPR host Robert Siegel, a longtime colleague of Conan, remembers his friend.
Employers added more jobs than analysts expected, as the jobless rate remained at a nearly 50-year low. Friday's report gives voters a final glimpse of the economy before the midterm elections.
The U.S. economy is in a sweet spot, with unemployment at a near 50-year low and an inflation rate that's low and stable. But that combination — low unemployment and low inflation — has economists at the Fed wondering if a theory they've had about how the economy works is still relevant.