Axios

The IRS announced Monday that almost 940,000 people across the U.S. have yet to claim their 2020 tax refund.

The big picture: There's more than $1 billion worth of unclaimed refunds that will be left on the table if people don't file their 2020 tax return before May 17.

Homes with premium backyard features can boost sale prices, new Zillow research across 2023 sales suggests, Hope writes.

• Homes with an outdoor TV can boost sale prices by nearly $11,000, or 3.1% more than expected.
• Outdoor showers can help push sales higher by 2.6%.
• A bluestone patio can lead to a 2.3% increase.
• A "she" shed — by 2%.

The intrigue: Make them part of your listing if you have them, Amanda Pendleton, a Zillow home trends expert, tells CNBC.

• Yes, but: "I wouldn't go out of my way to install these features and expect these kinds of sale premiums," she noted.

Unemployment rates have risen in some of America's most populous and politically important states — a sign there are more pockets of weakness in the labor market than national figures suggest.

Why it matters: Instead of the coast-to-coast job boom that shaped the pandemic recovery, the job market now looks more uneven, with parts of the country missing the plentiful job opportunities available in other states.

Volkswagen and the UAW have agreed to hold a vote on the union's bid to organize the automaker's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said Monday.

Why it matters: With more than 4,000 workers, the factory would be the only non-Detroit Three automotive assembly plant in the U.S. to be unionized.

It may be time to add human-caused climate change to the list of factors likely to worsen inflation, a new study finds.

Why it matters: The data suggests climate change is rippling through entire economies, instead of affecting the availability or price of particular goods.

The outperformance of the U.S. stock market and its broader economy can in large part be attributed to its superabundance of world-spanning monopolies.

Why it matters: The world's biggest tech monopolies are overwhelmingly American. That's been great for investors, although the jury's still out on whether it's good for citizens more broadly.

The U.S. yield curve has now been inverted — meaning that 10-year Treasuries yield less than their two-year counterparts — for a record 628 days.

Why it matters: As a recession predictor, the amount of time spent inverted is irrelevant. Think of this milestone more as a broader indicator of how long things have been out of whack in the Treasury market.

Financial aid forms are more confusing, standardized testing is a moving target and there's no more affirmative action — this is an unusually chaotic college application season for both students and colleges.

The big picture: These immediate changes are fueling a larger debate about the future of higher education, as some students weigh whether college is even worth it.