We are excited to announce that Rachel Siegel has joined the economics team to cover the Federal Reserve and the domestic economy, spearheading our coverage of the central bank as it works to steer the nation out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Rachel joined The Washington Post as a Metro intern in 2017 and covered the Montgomery County Council. In 2018, Rachel joined the Business staff as a breaking news and general assignment reporter, producing fast and timely coverage of President Trump’s trade war, discrimination in corporate America and, most recently, the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rachel sought out the human stories behind economic indicators and statistics. What began as a story about lobster tariffs took Rachel onto a fishing boat at 4:45 a.m. to chronicle how the trade war with China allowed Canada’s lobster industry to edge out U.S. companies. Rachel wrote about how gun violence created a tragic cottage industry built around “Rest in Peace” t-shirts. As the pandemic began to wreck the economy, Rachel wrote about a pawn shop owner in Ash Flat, Ark., who moved into his storefront to keep longtime customers afloat.
Rachel lives in the District where she’s often found hunting for Ethiopian food and hiking trails in Rock Creek Park. She’s from Dallas and received her undergraduate degree in history from Yale University.
Please join us in congratulating Rachel, who started in her new role last month.