NPR 2009-09-11

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A widening trade deficit¹ indicating increased consumer demand along with falling unemployment claims are showing that the economy may be picking up steam. NPR’s Audie Cornish reports.

 First, the US trade deficit saw some increases in import, partly because of the surging demand for cars. The results, economists² say, have a rebound³ in auto⁴ industry and the Cash for Clunkers government rebate⁵ program encouraging more dealers⁶ to build up their inventory⁷. Overall, imports were up 4.7 percent. That’s the highest monthly gain since 1992. Exports increased just well but just over two percent. These signs of increased demand did not necessarily mean companies are hiring. While first-time job claims did drop lower than expected, the total number of people on the unemployment rolls notched⁸ up in the late weeks of August. And economists project the unemployment rate will reach 10 percent by the end of this year. Audie Cornish, NPR News.

 President Obama spent a second day promoting his healthcare plan. The President spoke⁹ to a group of nurses who supported his overhaul¹⁰ initiative, pointing to the growing number of Americans who are losing their health insurance. President said the latest figures show it’s more important than ever to rework healthcare. Mr. Obama also said he has accepted the apology of a South Carolina Congressman¹¹ who interjected during the President’s nationally televised speech on healthcare last night. President said he has accepted an apology from Republican Joe Wilson who shouted “You lie!” in response to a statement that the illegal immigrants would not be covered under the administration’s healthcare initiative.

 Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has condemned¹² today’s truck bombing in northern Iraq that left at least 20 civilians¹⁴ dead, 30 wounded and 40 buildings destroyed. The deadly attack struck a Kurdish village outside the northern city of Mosul. NPR’s Peter Kenyon reports.

 Iraqi security officials said the truck bomb ripped through the village Wardak in the early hours of the morning, causing a heavy civilian¹³ loss of life. Officials said local security men prevented an even worse death toll¹⁵ by stopping and defusing a second truck bomb before it could go off. There was no immediate¹⁶ claim of responsibility for the attack, but in the past Sunni insurgents¹⁷ with ties to al-Qaeda have targeted small villages in the north. Talibani’s statement said today’s attack underlines the need to enhance intelligence gathering¹⁸ and security measures in the north. Separately, a coordinated¹⁹ bomb attack at a market in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, killed several Iraqis and wounded dozens. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Baghdad.

 President’s Council on Economic Advisers²⁰ has out with its assessment²¹ of the effectiveness of the government’s 787-billion-dollar economic stimulus²² package. The councilor report released today is now estimating the measure put in place earlier this year created as many as 1.1 million jobs by the third quarter and also added substantially to economic growth.

 On Wall Street today the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 80 points to close at 9,627. The NASDAQ was up 23 points. The S&P 500 rose 10 points today.

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 Police in Connecticut say they are continuing the search today for a missing Yale University graduate student. They say 24-year-old Annie Le, a doctoral student in pharmacology, was last seen Tuesday at a laboratory. They say she has not contacted family or friends. Police said the young woman’s purse, cell phone, credit cards and money were all left in her office. Le was an Asian descendant described as being roughly 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighing about 90 pounds. She was scheduled to be married Sunday. And a woman who worked in the university's pharmacology department said she was excited about the upcoming wedding.

 NASA is hoping to bring the space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew home later this evening, though the weather could be a problem. Meanwhile a new robotic cargo²³ ship is on its way to the space station after successful launch. It’s a milestone²⁴ for Japan’s space agency. NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.

 For years only the space shuttle or Russian space ships went to the space station, but last year Europe sent up an unmanned cargo ship and now Japan has done the same thing. A rocket blasted off carrying a robotic ship the size of a bus. It holds tons of cargo. If all goes well, it will approach the space station in about a week. The astronauts living there will grab it, using the station’s robotic arm. Future cargo ships like this one will help keep the station supplied after NASA’s planned retirement²⁵ of the space shuttle next year. Japan’s space agency currently has no ship that can carry people up, but experience with unmanned freighters could help Japan someday develop its own vehicle for human space flight. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

 Crude oil rose 65 cents a barrel to close at $71.96 a barrel in New York.

 I’m Jack²⁶ Speer, NPR News in Washington.