What insights are shared about supply chains during the holidays?
The real gifts that keep on giving are supply chains. From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Beneshour, in for David Brancaccio. Merry Christmas. And as you unwrap your gifts today, give a thought to the supply chains that brought them to you. From manufacturer to warehouser to retailer to living room. Those supply chains recently did something that they have not done before.
The warehouse part of that supply chain shrank. Companies in November stocked fewer goods in warehouses than they did the month before. That is the first time that warehouse utilization, as it is called, has contracted in the history of the survey that found this out. It's called the Logistics Managers Index.
Marketplace's Justin Ho looked into why demand for warehousing space has been soft lately. A big reason why companies haven't been stuffing as many goods in warehouses this holiday season is because they already did that earlier in the year, says Dale Rogers at Arizona State University. Because of the tariffs and uncertainty, we saw really the fourth quarter surge happen in the early summer.
As a result, Rogers says companies are focusing on emptying out their warehouses. And he says they're not likely to restock them anytime soon. Because of real nervousness about the economy. That's because in some sectors, consumer demand has been weakening. Jason Miller at Michigan State University says that includes manufacturing, which uses a lot of warehousing space to store inventory.
So essentially you have a soft manufacturing sector right now, and that means you're going to be needing essentially less warehousing space. Miller says other sectors simply aren't sure where consumer demand is headed. Do things start to point up a little bit more?
Do they stabilize sort of at the current relatively low blah levels, or do they even start to potentially turn down a little bit more? Miller says that means warehousing vacancy rates are likely to stay elevated well into the coming year. I'm Justin Ho for Marketplace. U.S. bond and stock markets are closed for the Christmas holiday. Trading hours go back to normal tomorrow at the usual hour.
Assuming there are no major dips in the last week of 2025, the S&P 500 index is on track for its third consecutive year of double-digit gains. That is despite the initial hit to the market from President Trump's tariffs and despite a cooling labor market and despite fears of an artificial intelligence bubble that might burst. Cooking for family for the holidays can be stressful.
For professional chefs, that level of stress is at a whole other level. They're often cooking for overbooked restaurants and special events, plus developing holiday menus and cooking for family get togethers. Family that expects them to deliver something high end and chef worthy. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman brings us the story of a food industry power couple in Portland, Oregon,
with two Beard Award-nominated restaurants and a commitment to eating not-so-fancy, home-cooked family meals. I meet Tom and Mariah Picheduffly at Gato Gato, their flagship Indonesian-Malaysian fusion restaurant in a bustling Portland mini-mall. Tom is the chef, Mariah runs the front of the house. The spice smells are heady, the booth is comfy, and Tom orders up a sampling menu that's to die for.
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