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The Labor Department said Friday the nation's unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent in August, the highest since 1983. But the economy shed a net total of 216,000 jobs, the fewest monthly losses in a year.

Firefighters are reporting some progress as they battle wildfires around Los Angeles. Higher humidity and a slight break in the heat have allowed firefighters to build lines around a quarter of the blaze.

A report from the White House detailing the effects of the stimulus says businesses that got federal contracts under the program saved or created more than 30,000 jobs in the program's opening months. Broader data on local spending won't be available until late this month.

President Obama praised the people New Orleans for not giving up after the city was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. The comments came at a town hall meeting during Obama's first visit to the city after being elected president.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is discouraging federal prosecutors from going after people who comply with state laws on medical marijuana. It's a significant departure from the Bush administration.

In When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, author Gail Collins chronicles the transformation of women in society. Many of today's career advances were created by market forces, she says.

The 6-year-old boy feared lost after a hot-air balloon he was believed to be traveling in came down has been found safe in his home. The balloon was owned by the boy's parents; it was tethered behind their house.

A government watchdog said Wednesday Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner dropped the ball on the massive bonuses at insurance giant AIG. Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion financial bailout, told a House panel that "a failure of management" led to the bonuses at the firm that received billions in federal bailout money.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 points Wednesday, fueled by better-than-expected retail sales numbers and big profits at JP Morgan Chase. The bank reported third-quarter earnings of $3.6 billion, but warned that it still expects more problems with consumer loans.

The Social Security Administration says there will be no cost-of-living increase next year for more than 50 million recipients of Social Security. The announcement comes a day after President Obama called for $250 payments for seniors, veterans, retired railroad workers and people with disabilities.