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The producer price index in May fell 0.2%; jobless claims rise to 10-month high, but still at a healthy level; Federal Reserve signals just one interest rate cut in 2024; G7 leaders agree to $50 billion Ukraine loan backed by Russian assets.

Federal campaigns get much of the spotlight, but state and local races can be as consequential for residents’ lives. Funders know that. Today, we’ll trace some of this year’s campaign spending behind state elections, local elections and ballot initiatives. We’ll also hear about a G7 plan to use seized Russian assets to help Ukraine. Plus, inflation for wholesalers was negative last month. What’s a central bank to do with that?

Gay bars are often a fixture of queer nightlife and can help foster a sense of community. Yet across the country, gay bars have shuttered at an alarming pace, down around 45% between 2002 and 2023. But queer nightlife isn’t disappearing — it may just be evolving. We’ll hear more. But first: Interest rates are staying where they are, so where do we go from here?

From the BBC World Service: Demonstrators argued that the measures, which include cutting state spending and watering down workers’ rights, will hurt millions of working Argentinians. Meanwhile, leaders of the G7 are meeting in Italy to discuss increasing economic pressure on Russia in response to its war against Ukraine. And around the world, hundreds of thousands of tons of nuclear waste are piling up in temporary storage, but Finland thinks it has a solution.

Back in 2020, Microsoft made an ambitious pledge to go carbon negative by 2030. But that plan is encountering some headwinds, according to its latest sustainability report. It showed Microsoft’s carbon emissions have increased by 30% since it made that pledge four years ago and comes a reminder of the significant environmental cost of the AI boom. Just how significant? Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino asked Emma Strubell, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who co-wrote a paper about the specific energy demands for common uses of this technology.

Well, the Federal Reserve decided to stand pat on interest rates for now — and said it may make just one cut this year. In this episode, we break down the Fed’s latest move and look at which sectors are feeling the “lag effect” of rate hikes. Plus: Daycares are likely to raise prices as federal pandemic funding runs dry, and Fannie Mae’s chief climate officer says we should prepare for climate risk to become a bigger factor in the housing market.