Megan Cassella: The Economics Reporter Who Built Her Career Covering Trade Wars and the Fed
Megan Cassella has spent more than a decade covering Washington’s economic policy machinery from nearly every angle—as a wire reporter during a historic presidential campaign, a trade specialist during the Trump administration’s tariff battles, a Federal Reserve reporter for one of finance’s most respected publications, and eventually an on-air correspondent for CNBC. As of 2026, that career is entering a new chapter with a move to NBC News.
Education and Early Career
Cassella earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and international politics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 2015. She has said she got her start in journalism at UNC and has kept a fondness for the region ever since, joking in her own professional bio that she’s still hunting for the best Carolina barbecue inside the Beltway. She later returned to school part time, adding a business credential from the University of Pennsylvania, completed in 2018, while already working full time as a reporter.
Cassella began her professional career as a reporter for Reuters, where she covered national politics and the U.S. economy, including reporting on the 2016 presidential campaign — placing her at the center of one of the most closely covered elections in modern American history at the very start of her career.
Covering Trade Wars at Politico
Cassella spent more than five years at Politico, where she became a central figure on the publication’s trade team during a genuinely turbulent period in U.S. economic policy. Her coverage there included the Trump administration’s trade war years, the renegotiation of NAFTA into the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, unemployment reporting throughout the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, and coverage of the fraught 2020 presidential transition between the Trump and Biden administrations. Once Biden took office, she shifted her focus to covering his sweeping economic policy agenda, giving her sustained, direct coverage of economic policy across two very different presidential administrations back to back.
Senior Economics Reporter at Barron’s
Cassella moved to Barron’s, one of the most respected publications in financial journalism, taking on the role of senior economics and policy reporter. There, her coverage centered on the Federal Reserve and the broader U.S. economy, with a particular focus on inflation and the labor market during the post-pandemic recovery — a period defined by unusual and closely watched economic data. Her reporting on the labor market throughout 2022 was recognized with an Honorable Mention in the Economics category at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing’s (SABEW) 2022 Best in Business Awards, one of financial journalism’s most respected industry honors.
Joining CNBC
In December 2023, CNBC announced that Cassella would join the network as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent, in a staffing update from CNBC business news senior vice president Dan Colarusso that also included new roles for several other prominent CNBC reporters. In her role at CNBC, Cassella covered the intersection of business and Washington policy, including taxation, budget matters, and regulatory issues, along with the market and economic implications of the Biden administration’s industrial policy initiatives heading into the 2024 election year.
Cassella’s on-air work at CNBC put her in front of one of business television’s largest audiences, and she has regularly appeared across other major outlets to discuss her reporting, including CBS News, the BBC, and Fox Business Network. During her tenure, she covered major, fast-moving stories including tariff and trade policy disputes, tax legislation battles including provisions around the SALT deduction cap, and geopolitical stories with direct economic implications, including reporting on U.S.-Iran tensions in 2026.
A Move to NBC News
After roughly seven years split between CNBC’s on-air correspondent role and her earlier print reporting career, Cassella announced she would be joining NBC News as a senior business editor, describing the CNBC chapter of her career as an incredible seven years while expressing excitement about the new role. The move represents a shift from an on-air correspondent position back toward an editorial leadership role, applying her deep economics and policy reporting background to shaping NBC News’ broader business coverage rather than reporting individual stories on air herself.
Personal Life
Cassella has generally kept her personal life private throughout her public career, choosing to focus her social media presence primarily on her professional reporting and milestones. She has referenced being part of a wave of new parents among her CNBC colleagues around mid-2025, though she has not extensively detailed her family life publicly.
Quick Facts
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Megan Cassella |
| Education | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA, Journalism and International Politics, 2015); University of Pennsylvania (Business, 2018) |
| Current role | Senior Business Editor, NBC News |
| Previously | Correspondent, CNBC (2024–2026); senior economics and policy reporter, Barron’s; trade reporter, Politico; reporter, Reuters |
| Notable recognition | SABEW 2022 Best in Business Awards, Economics category (Honorable Mention) |
FAQ
What does Megan Cassella cover?
Her reporting has focused on trade policy, the Federal Reserve, the labor market, and the intersection of business and Washington policy, across roles at Reuters, Politico, Barron’s, and CNBC.
Where does Megan Cassella work now?
She’s transitioning from her role as a CNBC Washington correspondent to a senior business editor position at NBC News.
What did Megan Cassella cover at Politico?
She covered trade policy during the Trump administration’s trade war years, the NAFTA renegotiation, pandemic-era unemployment, and the 2020 presidential transition.
Where did Megan Cassella go to college?
She earned her journalism and international politics degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015, later adding a business credential from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018.
A Career Built on Following the Policy
Megan Cassella’s reporting career has consistently tracked the biggest economic policy stories of the last decade — trade wars, a pandemic, a contentious presidential transition, and a prolonged battle over inflation — across four of the most respected names in American journalism. Her move to a senior editorial role at NBC News marks a shift from reporting the story herself to shaping how an entire newsroom covers business, a natural next step after more than a decade spent as one of Washington’s most consistent economic policy voices.
