Fed holds rates, but a future hike is pretty inevitable

Fed governors met this week and voted to keep interest rates steady at just below 4%. The central bank says it’s taking a “wait and see” approach to elevated inflation. But what does that mean for banks and businesses that want to borrow money? In this episode, economic forces make for a fraught lending environment. Plus: We take a trip to Costco to understand how toilet paper is an economic indicator, and spend the day out west with a Wyoming cattle brand inspector.

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Read the stories in today’s episode:

• As interest rates rise, lending gets more fraught for businesses and banks (marketplace.org/story/2026/10/28/banks-and-sma…)
• A day in the life of a Wyoming cattle brand inspector (marketplace.org/story/2026/10/28/what-its-like…)
• How student loans have shaped this family’s economy (marketplace.org/story/2026/10/28/how-student-l…)
• What toilet paper sales tell us about consumer spending (marketplace.org/story/2026/10/29/yes-even-toil…)
• Copper wire stripping is making people money on TikTok (marketplace.org/story/2026/10/28/copper-wire-s…)