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In a much needed sign of hope for the U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Friday that the country gained 163,000 jobs in July, which was better than expected. Still, unemployment rose a bit to 8.3 percent. NPR's Chris Arnold reports from an annual economics retreat in Maine with reaction from some of the country's top economists and analysts there.
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Each month, producing the closely watched jobs numbers transforms a quiet federal statistics office into a high-security operation.
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Gauging just what's going on with claims is proving difficult, however, because of some positive news: automakers have been skipping their standard summer shutdowns. So layoffs have likely been lower than normal.
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The decline was a surprise. Economists say the Labor Department has been having difficulty applying "seasonal adjustments" to the figures because of changes in the timing of annual shutdowns at auto plants.
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The May job numbers that were released today are worse than economists were expecting with the nation’s unemployment rate edging up to 8.2%. But…
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If the economy continues May's unsteady sort of progress, Obama and other administration officials will keep pointing out rays of economic hope and reminding voters of how bad situation was when they took office. Meanwhile, Romney, aided by congressional Republicans, will continue to paint the president and his economic policies as a failure.
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Farm worker advocates and top Obama administration officials have been pushing hard for new regulations that would improve safety for teenagers working on farms. But facing fierce opposition from the agriculture industry and its allies in Congress, the Department of Labor abruptly withdrew a set of rules that advocates said could save dozens of lives every year.
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The good news: The data suggest some job growth. The bad news: Business investment in equipment looks weak.
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The government says that employers advertised 3.74 million job openings in March, the highest number since before the financial crisis began.
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The decline was more than economists expected and could ease fears about a stalling labor market. Friday, we'll hear about the April unemployment rate.