US hiring

rebounds

WASHINGTON (AP) — American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February. And the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%. \

The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring marked a rebound from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast.

The unemployment rate was down from 4.4% in February. But uncertainty surrounding the war with Iran — and its impact on energy prices — is clouding the outlook for the labor market.

Choctaw marker

unveiled

(AP) — Nuchi Nashoba has worked for decades to honor the legacy of the Choctaw code talkers, a group of 19 Native American soldiers, including her great-grandfather, who used their language to transmit encrypted messages during World War I.

On April 1, their contributions were recognized in Texas with a historical marker at Fort Worth’s Veterans Memorial Park. The soldiers volunteered to fight for the U.S. before Native Americans were recognized as citizens. They were part of the 36th Infantry Division at Camp Bowie.

Their work paved the way for the Navajo code talkers in World War II. Nashoba’s efforts have helped spread awareness of their story, connecting past and future generations.

Astronauts

share photos

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Artemis II astronauts have captured Earth’s brilliant blue beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon. NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century.

The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds. It even includes a pale green aurora.

As of midday Friday, the crew was 100,000 miles from Earth and quickly gaining on the moon.