Marketplace Morning Report

Oil prices came close to hitting $120 a barrel yesterday. This morning, they're hovering around $100 a barrel. Gas prices are also up 27 cents in a week, a price increase that'll pinch consumers and could dent consumer spending. In response to the spike in oil prices, some nations are discussing releasing oil reserves from their stockpiles. Then, we'll head to the Texas-Mexico border, where a parasitic fly poses a threat to the cattle industry.

Economists are still digesting last Friday's jobs report, which showed a loss of 92,000 jobs in February. The labor force participation rate — the percentage of working-age people who are either working or looking for work — fell to 62%. That's the lowest since December 2021 and means some people are giving up even looking for a job. We'll dig into the importance of that figure. Also on the show: oil prices and existential threats.

The U.S. economy actually lost jobs last month. The number of people on U.S. payrolls fell by 92,000 in February, with big swings in education and health care. How might the Federal Reserve respond to this new data? Plus, the idea of having a robot to do all your household chores has long been a staple of science fiction. Today, we hear from a company designing robots trying to make that a reality.

War in the Middle East has caused oil prices to spike, and — right on cue — gasoline prices have risen quickly. They’re up 34 cents in a week, according to AAA. That's the fastest price increase at the pump since 2022. And diesel prices just topped $4 a gallon this week, which will likely push up the cost of anything shipped by truck or train. Also on the program: a look at what's driving Texas supermarket construction.

In pretty much every jobs report of 2025 — and on into early 2026 — health care was the most reliable job-creating sector. Some 436,000 health care jobs were added last year. It's a bright spot in the labor market, at a time when other sectors face sluggish job growth and disruption from AI. Plus, since the U.S. and Israel launched their war with Iran, the value of the U.S. dollar has been rising. We'll discuss.