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JACQUELYNMARTIN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS People rally on Pennsylvania Avenue by the White House in Washington on Thursday in protest of ongoing deportations. ByEricaWerner The Associated Press WASHINGTON Advocates for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally are mounting a final push to persuade the House to pass immigration legislation this summer, seeing one last window to act that will soon slam shut for good. If they don't succeed by August, most say any chance of legislation will be over for the year, and all eyes will be on President Barack Obama to see if he acts on his own to curb de- portations and accommo- date some of the 11.5 million people here illegally. The renewed focus on the GOP-led House comes amid chatter that immigra- tion legislation — all but left for dead at the beginning of this year — is showing faint glimmers of life. Advocates point to recent comments by a handful of House Re- publicans, among them Speaker John Boehner, in- dicating an interest in get- ting it done. Meanwhile Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., the leading proponent on the Republican side, has been trying to sell fellow Repub- licans on legislation he's drafted that deals with en- forcement of the laws and a legal status for those with- out one. He contends that after years of trying he's struck a balance that can bring both sides on board. Advocates note that mid- term election primaries will largely be over by the end of June, freeing some House Republicansfromthethreat of a challenge from the right andperhapsliberatingthem to deal with a contentious is- sue like immigration. Business lobbyists and others say they are now aiming to elevate pressure on individual House Repub- licans who might support overhaul efforts, or at least not publicly oppose them, with the aim of creating a swell of support that would allow Boehner the space he needs to act. Some outside lobbyists say they can count scoresofHouseRepublicans who would be with them. The activity comes 10 months after the Senate passed bipartisan legisla- tion with billions for bor- der security, new visa pro- grams to bring workers to the U.S., and a path to citi- zenship for the millions now here illegally. Advocates see last window for immigration bill WASHINGTON By Christopher S. Rugaber The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Amer- ican economy shrugged off the end of a brutal win- ter last month, rebounding with the biggest hiring surge in two years and suggesting that the job market's gains could endure. Employers added 288,000 jobs across industries from manufacturing to construc- tion to accounting. Even lo- cal governments hired. The unemployment rate sank to 6.3 percent, its lowest point since 2008, from 6.7 percent. But the rate fell that far because many fewer people began looking for work in April, thereby reducing the number of unemployed. The proportion of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one dropped to a three-decade low. And the monthly employ- ment report the government released Friday showed that worker pay has yet to pick up — evidence that the job mar- ket has not fully recovered. Yet April's robust hir- ing gains suggested that the economy is returning to the solid pace of growth it achieved in the second half of 2013, before it was ham- mered by a harsh winter. Job growth has averaged 203,000 a month in the past six months, similar to last year's average of 194,000. Analysts said the econ- omy is facing fewer hur- dles now. In addition to bet- ter weather, growth is no longer held back by steep government spending cuts, which slowed growth in 2013. Many companies had also stockpiled too many goods last fall, forcing them to cut back in the first quarter to clear their shelves. "The absence of these factors is finally allowing the economy's underlying strength to come to the sur- face," said Bart Van Ark, chief economist at the Con- ference Board. "The result is not just a relatively strong gain in jobs in April but prob- ably more of the same in May and June." Explorys, a health-care data provider, has ramped up hiring in the past six months as more hospitals have used its services to limit their costs. Explorys' software can analyze pa- tient data to predict which ones are most likely to need follow-up visits at home to prevent any complications. The Cleveland-based company has added about 30 people in the past six months, bringing its staff to about 140. "We need more software developers, data analysts and data scientists," says CEO Steve McHale. "The economy's improvement has served us well." April's solid job growth wasn't enough to boost stock prices. The DowJonesindus- trial average fell 48 points in afternoon trading. The unemployment rate is now at the lowest level in 5½ years. It's fallen far enough that economists are antic- ipating the key next step in an improving job mar- ket: higher pay. In the past, when employers have had to draw from a smaller pool of unemployed people, they've typically been forced to offer higher pay. That hasn't happened yet. And analysts differ about when pay might pick up. Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, noted that the unem- ployment rate is near its seven-decade average of 6.1 percent. At that point, "you've typically seen wage and inflation pressures build," LaVorgna said. "And I see no reason why it won't happen this time as well." Higher prices and rising incomes could also eventu- ally force the Federal Re- serve to more quickly with- draw its efforts to spur borrowing, spending and growth by holding down in- terest rates. Economists note that one- third of the unemployed have been out of work for six months or longer, and recent research suggests that many of them aren't being seri- ously considered by employ- ers. If so, that would mean employers are competing for a smaller pool of avail- able workers than the unem- ployment rate suggests and might have to raise pay soon. Many of the long-term job- less stopped looking for work last month. Their ranks fell 300,000 — the sharpest drop in 2½ years — to 3.5 million. But many other econo- mists, likely including Fed Chair Janet Yellen, point to factors suggesting that there are still a huge num- ber of Americans desperate for full-time work. The num- ber of people working part- time jobs who would prefer full-time positions, for ex- ample, rose by 50,000 last month to 7.5 million. These economists aren't as willing to count out the long-term jobless. They ar- gue that faster economic growth would encourage more employers to hire them. "It's amazing what good labor markets can do to pull people out of the woodwork and back into jobs," said Di- ane Swonk, an economist at Mesirow Financial. Average hourly wage growth was flat in April, sug- gesting that unemployment is still too high to force pay up. JOB MARKET Economy bounces back from winter MIKE GROLL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sarah Keegan of Windham, N.Y., with her son Kevin, fills out paperwork during a job fair at Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, N.Y., on April 22. By Rachel D'oro The Associated Press ANCHORAGE, ALASKA A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of two troopers in a remote village, the Alaska State Troopers said Friday. Nathaniel Lee Kangas is under arrest in the mur- ders of Trooper Gabriel "Gabe" Rich and Sgt. Patrick "Scott" Johnson Thursday in the isolated community of Tanana. Troopers said for- mal charges against the Ta- nana man were being pre- pared by troopers with the state Office of Special Pros- ecutions and Appeals. A second Tanana man, Arvin Kangas, 58, is charged with assault in connection with a Wednesday incident involving a village public safety officer. Tanana resi- dent Ruby Cruger said she is related to the men, and that the elder Kangas is the father of the teenager. Cruger said she did not know the details of the shoot- ing,justthatithasaffectedthe entire community of 238 peo- ple.Thetownisshockedbythe shooting, she said Friday. Troopers also have re- leased little information. The two troopers were oc- casionallyfeaturedontheNa- tional Geographic Channel show "Alaska State Troop- ers," which features multiple trooperspatrollingthestate's wild terrain. The troopers were not filming at the time oftheirdeaths.Filmingin the fifthseasoniscurrentlybeing done with other troopers. National Geographic said in a statement that it was "in- credibly saddened" to learn of the deaths. Spokesman Chris Alpert said the troopers are amongthemanywhoaresub- jectedtothedailydangersand vulnerabilities of working in isolatedareasofthestate,such as Tanana, which is about 130 miles west of Fairbanks. ALASKA Man arrested in deaths of troopers ALEXANDER F. YUAN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Apple CEO Tim Cook, right, and China Mobile's chairman Xi Guohua are silhouetted against a screen showing iPhone products in Beijing, China, on Jan. 17. By Paul Elias The Associated Press SAN JOSE A California jury determined Friday that Samsung infringed Apple smartphone patents and awarded $120 million in damages. The panel delivered its verdict in federal court San Jose in the latest lawsuit in- volving the two tech giants. It also ruled that Apple in- fringed Samsung patents and awarded $158,000 in damages. Apple Inc. had sought $2.2 billion after accusing Samsung Electronics Co. of infringing five of its patents covering functions such as slide-to-lock, universal searching, quick linking, automatic word correction and background syncing. Samsung had sought $6 million after arguing Ap- ple that had infringed two of its smartphone patents related to camera use and video transmission. The verdict marked the latest intellectual property battle between the world's top two smartphone mak- ers. Apple and Samsung have sued each other in courts and trade offices around the world. Two years ago, a sep- arate jury ordered Sam- sung to pay Apple $930 million after finding it had used Apple technology to create older generation de- vices. Samsung is appeal- ing that order. The lawsuits were filed as Apple and Samsung are locked in a bitter struggle for dominance of the $330 billion worldwide smart- phone market. Samsung has become the leader of the sector with a 31 per- cent share after being an also-ran with just 5 per- cent in 2007. Apple, mean- while, has seen its market share slip to about 15 per- cent from a high of 27 per- cent three years ago. The jury of four men and four women delivered its verdict in the latest case af- ter beginning deliberations on April 29. During the monthlong trial, Apple argued that many of the key functions and vital features of Sam- sung phones were invented by Apple. Samsung coun- tered that its phones oper- ate on the Google Android software system and that any legal complaint Apple has is with the search giant. Much of the testimony focused on Google. The search giant wasn't a party to the case, but Sam- sung argued in court that Google and its Android software were the real tar- gets of Apple. More than 70 percent of smartphones run on An- droid, a mobile operating system that Google Inc. has given out for free to Sam- sung and other phone mak- ers. Jury: Samsung, Apple both infringed patents BUSINESS Select"Subscribe"tabinlowerrightcorner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! This FREE service made possible by the advertisers in TV Select Magazine Kindly patronize and thank them. Click on their ads online to access their websites! FREE online subscription to TV Select Magazine Digital edition emailed to you, every Saturday! 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