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As many as 10,000 buildings have burned in the Los Angeles wildfires, officials say, and nearly 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. Angelenos who want nearby housing in the short or long term will be faced with one of the lowest multifamily vacancy rates in the country. Also in this episode: Airlines are optimistic as business travel ticks up, and 5.5 million Americans would like a job but aren’t actively searching for one. We’ll explain why.

Is economic uncertainty a feeling or a fact? Though you may think uncertainty defies measure, in this episode, we call up some economists who put a number on it. And, as wildfires rage in Los Angeles County, insurance firms — including California’s insurer of last resort, the FAIR Plan — brace for catastrophic payouts. Plus: President Joe Biden may further restrict the flow of AI technology to China, and Thailand’s auto sector finds hope in manufacturing Chinese electric vehicles.

Several major wildfires are raging in and around Los Angeles today. In this episode, we explain why the cost of fighting these blazes has ballooned. We’ll also hear about what makes urban wildfires particularly dangerous and destructive. Plus: More Americans work multiple jobs, an uptick in return-to-office orders signals shifting employer-worker relations and long-term bond yields rise as the future grows murkier.

Dockworkers are back to the negotiation table with employers, and automation is a big sticking point. Mechanizing port operations can make them more efficient, but the Longshoremen’s union is concerned that efficiency comes at the price of jobs. The deadline to avoid a possible strike is next week. Also in this episode: probing the mysteries of Spotify’s powerful algorithm, snowplowers take a hit from climate change, and the trade deficit isn’t as bad as it looks.

President-elect Donald Trump spent much of his campaign promising to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, and the value of the dollar has fluctuated in response to his trade agenda. We’ll explain the connection — and why lower import tariffs bring down the dollar’s value against other currencies. Also in this episode: Small businesses take advantage of their leases, home equity could fuel a massive wealth transfer and the GOP presses for changes to how the government calculates the cost of legislation.

President Biden blocked a nearly $15 billion deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel, citing national security concerns. Both firms say they’ll go to court to keep the deal alive, but can they prove the acquisition won’t put the U.S. in a vulnerable spot? Also in this episode: Small businesses win an anti-gentrification victory in a Los Angeles neighborhood, new car sales are up despite high prices and Orlando, Florida, gets a romance-only bookstore.

A new congressional session begins on Friday and, like so many before them, the fresh cohort of lawmakers will have to come to a consensus on what to do about the national debt ceiling. Will they raise it, lower it or get rid of it entirely? We explain. Plus, job seekers use social media to market themselves, a few areas shine in an otherwise so-so construction spending report, and longshoremen stand firm against port automation.

Natural gas prices are creeping up — the commodity leaped recently in futures trading. That means your January heating bill may be higher than anticipated. In this episode, what makes natural gas prices heat up and why we can’t just pump more in. Plus, Boeing’s New Year’s resolutions for a stronger 2025 and how women might benefit from the “great wealth transfer.”

We called up some economists to get their take on one word to describe this year’s economy. Mostly, experts said things fell somewhere in the middle of excellent and disastrous, but some had cheerier outlooks than others. Also in this episode, we ring in the new year with a 2025 housing market lookahead and a breakdown of the first congestion pricing program in the U.S., coming to New York City Jan. 5.

Pending home sales grew for a fourth-straight month in November and housing supply just hit a four-year high. But that’s partly because many listings are “stale inventory,” sitting on the market for at least 60 days. Also in this episode: An old material used in a new way for climate-friendly high rises, social media budgeters breathe new life into the cash-in-envelopes strategy, and seniors on Medicare will pay less out of pocket for prescriptions starting Jan. 1.

When workers get more productive, higher wages might follow. So what about jobs that just can’t get more productive? In this episode, we explain why those workers’ wages may rise anyway — a concept called the Baumol effect — with help from an economist who’s also an amateur bassoonist. Plus, the trade deficit is no sweat, a Georgia program trains refugees for tech jobs and we check in with an urban tour guide in Kansas City.

General Electric broke its business into three separate public companies this year, putting a higher profile on corporate spinoff strategies. We’ll explain why spinoffs are hot right now. Hint: It has a lot to do with rewarding investors and managing debt burdens. Also in this episode: Congress may struggle to pass tax reforms despite a GOP majority next year, AI agents might be tech’s next big thing and why the Fed tracks the U.S. money supply.

Car prices tend to go up, but after a period of high interest rates, now is actually a decent time to buy. And Americans are buying — it’s one factor in rising retail sales right now. In this episode, why vehicle sales have revved up. Plus, corporate credit card fraud appears to be rising, breakup recovery is strictly business and retailers prep for potential inventory tumult.

There’s about a 1 in 5 chance your Christmas tree came from North Carolina this year. But growing them isn’t easy. In this episode, we check in with Fraser fir farmers in the Asheville area, who took a major hit from Hurricane Helene. Plus: Christmas Day football streams on Netflix, higher minimum wages for many Americans in 2025, and Arctic tundra is transforming from carbon sink to carbon source.

Consumer confidence, as assessed by The Conference Board, grew steadily the past few months. But in December, the index fell 7%. One likely driver? Agita over President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff proposal. Also in this episode: The Senate passes a pricey bill to fix a decades-old Social Security issue, President Joe Biden announces an investigation into China’s trade practices for chips, and we check in with an Asheville business recovering from Hurricane Helene.

New research from the University of Washington found businesses owned by women and people of color are charged higher rates for loans, costing about $8 billion a year more in interest payments than their white counterparts. Also in this episode, some energy sector updates: Growing global coal demand is powered by data centers and industrialization, and a new Gulf Coast hydrogen hub aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the region’s oil refineries.

Amazon is reportedly postponing a return to in-person work for a portion of its staff due to insufficient office space. It’s not alone. For the first time since the pandemic began, office real estate may be heating up. Also in this episode: Exports, particularly in the electronics sector, drive GDP growth, Chinese importers of U.S. goods prep for retaliatory tariffs and insurers push back against “nuclear” verdicts in personal injury cases.

Nurses, software developers and restaurant cooks are among the jobs predicted to grow the most in the next decade, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But some experts warn that predictions can be “spectacularly wrong.” Plus, homeowners cling to low mortgage rates, “exurbs” dominate this year’s most popular housing markets, and we hear from business owners who may struggle if President-elect Donald Trump’s policies push inflation back up.

The Coalition for Green Capital, funded by private investors and President Joe Biden’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, began doling out cash this fall. It’s an experiment in using federal dollars to spur investment in mitigating climate change. Will it survive under the incoming Trump administration? Also in this episode: How high can bond yields climb? Will 2025 be a big year for mergers and acquisitions? And, are tuition-free medical schools curing the industry’s ills?

Government bond yields are typically lower than corporate ones, since corporations can’t print their own money. The difference between the two is called a spread, and that spread has narrowed in recent months. In this episode, why that shrinking spread is a sign that investors feel optimistic. Plus: Retailers struggle with excess brick-and-mortar space, nationwide household net worth hits a record high and Vermont ski areas battle climate change.