I'm in the United States this week to attend the annual news nerd conference known as NICAR, a diverse gathering of reporters, editors and developers (and others) focused on storytelling with data. I look forward to it like Christmas. I get to return to the United States, see old friends, lear... Read more →

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits hasn't been this low since Richard Nixon was president, according to new data from the U.S. Labor Department. The figures suggest a tight labor market in which employers are retaining employees because there aren't as many availabl... Read more →

I wrote this week about the one-year anniversary of China's economic retaliation against South Korea over the THAAD missile system, a defensive weapon designed to stop North Korea's medium-range missiles. China objects to it and has been flexing its economic muscle in protest, carrying out an a... Read more →

My wife (@elisewho) and I (@stiles) had a silly social media moment yesterday when I replied to one of her tweets — despite the fact that she was sitting in an adjacent room of our Seoul apartment. USC professor Robert Hernandez (a.k.a. @webjournalist) captured it:   https://twitter.com/webjou... Read more →

More than 2,900 athletes from 92 nations and territories are competing in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The event has 15 different sports (and many events within each). Which sports have the most athletes? Hockey, which requires a 23-person roster, leads the list, followed b... Read more →

Because I live in Seoul and work as a journalist, I'm paying close attention to the Winter Olympics as they open tonight in Pyeongchang, South Korea. I don't know much about the Winter Games' history, so I decided first to research which countries are here. Europe dominates: Here's a world ma... Read more →

President Trump was right last month when he bragged that black unemployment rate was at a historical low. The rate in December was 6.8 percent, the lowest it's been since 1972 (though it ticked back up nearly a percentage point last month). But the president's statement excluded some important... Read more →

Years after a global crisis, the world's largest economies are again growing, The New York Times reported over the weekend. Every major economy on earth is expanding at once, a synchronous wave of growth that is creating jobs, lifting fortunes and tempering fears of popular discontent. A tweet... Read more →

The Trump administration last week announced that it planned to impose higher fees, known as tariffs, to countries that export washing machines and solar panels the United States. The tariffs, prompted by complaints from American companies who feel disadvantaged by global trade, were applied ac... Read more →

I've often felt fortunate that I get to write about South Korea for the Los Angeles Times, a newspaper that's still interested in stories related to life, politics and culture here — not just the strongman to the North. That interest is in part because the Times remains a serious paper that's ... Read more →