Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.
Hiring increased, but so did the unemployment rateEmployers recorded a healthy month of hiring in September, according to today’s jobs report. The economy added 119,000 jobs, easing some concern that the labor market had tipped into a contraction. There were a couple of noteworthy caveats. The unemployment rate increased to a four-year peak of 4.4 percent, suggesting that more people were looking for work and not finding it. The unemployment rate for workers between ages 20 and 24 is 9.2 percent, the highest it has been since 2015. The report was also out of date, delayed by six weeks during the government shutdown. The result is a swirl of mixed signals. Policymakers at the Fed are at their most confident when the economy is soaring or suffering, but they are currently divided over what to do next. Other economic news also presented uncertainty. Walmart said that its profits rose 34 percent, to $6.1 billion, in its most recent quarter, but cited “pockets of moderation” among lower-income shoppers, who pulled back on spending. Stocks were up in the morning. But by market close, the major U.S. indexes had given up those gains as concerns about overvalued A.I. companies crept back in.
The U.S. is pursuing multiple Ukraine peace plans at onceA delegation of senior U.S. military officials spent today in Kyiv to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine. The officials were sent with the hope that the Kremlin might be more receptive to military-brokered negotiations. Separately, President Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, negotiated a 28-point peace plan with his Russian counterpart — but without input from in Ukraine. The plan would require Kyiv to surrender territory and agree to other demands that have long been rejected as nonstarters. Some officials in Ukraine expressed confusion over the U.S.’s multiple diplomatic tracks.
The C.D.C. changed its longtime position on vaccines and autismThe C.D.C. has long fought against the claim that vaccines cause autism. Until this week, a website it created to fight misinformation said that studies had shown “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism.” Now, that website has been changed to say that studies “have not ruled out the possibility.” The change reflects the skepticism that has been voiced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., though dozens of scientific studies have failed to find evidence of a link between vaccines and autism. In other Trump administration news:
Bear attacks are disrupting life in rural JapanIn northern Japan, many are on edge after a surge in bear attacks. The animals have attacked nearly 200 people so far this year, killing 13. In some areas, residents are carrying bear spray and children no longer walk to school alone. The government considers the problem a national priority. Riot police and the army have been sent to help. Japanese officials are looking for ways to encourage more people to start hunting the bears. More top news
One day last year, Brian Waitzel appeared to be a healthy 47-year-old JetBlue pilot. The next, after eating a hamburger at a barbecue, he died. Waitzel’s autopsy described it as “sudden unexplained death.” But that didn’t sit right with his wife, or a doctor who was a friend. They investigated and found that Waitzel’s death was the result of alpha-gal syndrome, an increasingly common tick-borne meat allergy that can be fatal.
Listen to a pair of newly discovered Bach piecesWhen Peter Wollny came across a pair of unsigned organ works while researching his dissertation in 1992, he set them aside. They were strikingly original and he wanted to know who composed them. Now, after three decades of detective work and handwriting analysis, Wollny finally announced that he was confident the pieces were teenage works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Both works were performed this week at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach once served as cantor. Listen to excerpts here.
No one told colleges that radio is deadAt universities like Princeton, Brown, Fordham and Loyola Marymount, radio still feels like it’s in its prime. The stations don’t have big budgets or seamless production. But they remain deeply pleasurable to listen to, in large part because the students who run them are constantly on a mission to discover music both new and old. Also on radio: The Grand Ole Opry is turning 100. We looked back at the ways it has shaped country music.
Dinner table topics
Cook: This crustless zucchini and feta quiche is a great weeknight dinner. Watch: Joel Edgerton stars in “Train Dreams,” a gorgeous film about a laborer in the Northwest. Read: “Mexico” tells the story of a nation that thrived because of its diversity, not in spite of it. Plan: We put together an itinerary for a short trip to Memphis. |
