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ByChristopherS. Rugaber The Associated Press WASHINGTON U.S. unem- ployment fell to a seven- year low of 5.3 percent and employers hired at a solid pace in June, but other gauges of the job market drew a bleaker picture: A wave of people stopped looking for work, and pay- checks failed to budge. The figures released Thursday capture the per- sistently uneven nature of the recovery from the Great Recession. The job market "remains consistent with a two-steps- forward, one-step-back ex- pansion the U.S. economy finds itself in," said Scott Andersen, chief economist at Bank of the West. The economy gained 223,000 jobs last month, and unemployment edged down from 5.5 percent in May, the Labor Department reported. That is the lowest jobless rate since April 2008, when it was 5 percent. It eventu- ally soared to 10 percent in late 2009 after the reces- sion had done its worst. Yet unemployment dropped this time mainly because many people out of work apparently got dis- couraged and gave up look- ing for a job. The govern- ment doesn't count peo- ple as unemployed unless they're actively searching. In fact, the proportion of Americans working or look- ing for work slipped to a 38- year low. At the same time, wages have stalled, rising just 2 per- cent over the past 12 months. The mixed data suggest the Federal Reserve may put off plans to raise short- term interest rates and end the stimulus effort that be- gan in 2008. Most econo- mists had expected the Fed to make its move in Sep- tember. "After this report, I think it would make sense to wait until December to start that slow rate increase," said Tara Sinclair, chief econo- mist at the jobs site Indeed and a professor at George Washington University. A Fed increase would lead to higher rates for mortgages, auto loans and other borrowing. The sluggish wage growth suggests that many employers see no need to raise pay to attract or retain workers and that there are more people available for hire than the unemploy- ment rate would indicate. Some quirks of the jobs report might also explain why wages stagnated last month. The government's survey ended relatively early in the month on June 12. As a result, it might have excluded some twice- monthly paychecks, noted John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo. Another sour note in the report was that construc- tion companies failed to add any jobs in June. Man- ufacturing gained just 4,000 positions. But health care added 53,000, and re- tailers 33,000. Still, over the past three months, hiring has averaged a robust 221,000 per month. That shows that some em- ployers are confident about consumer demand for their goods and services in the coming months. Patrick Cimerola, se- nior vice president of hu- man resources at Choice Hotels, the corporate par- ent of such chains as Qual- ity Suites and Comfort Inn, said the company is rais- ing pay and adding perks to hire workers in market- ing, information technology and finance. "More people are travel- ing, because more people have disposable income," he said. "And we believe that will continue." Americans are, in fact, spending more than they did earlier this year, when the miserable winter caused the economy to contract. The Conference Board said this week that consumer confidence reached the sec- ond-highest level since the recession. Auto sales and home sales have jumped to their highest levels since 2007. And the economy is ex- pected to grow at a 2.5 per- cent annual rate in the sec- ond quarter. Yet Greece's debt crisis and a slowdown in China could also weigh on U.S. growth this year. ECONOMY Unemploymentfallsto7-yearlow,butwagesareflat MARYALTAFFER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Sophia Lewis, le , with PSEG Long Island, speaks to an attendee about employment opportunities during a job fair at Citi Field in New York. By Susanne M. Schafer The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. The last of the victims of the Charleston church shoot- ing to be eulogized was remembered Thursday as a man known by the nickname "Super," who lived his life with a driv- ing force to serve his fel- low men and his God. Family members, re- ligious colleagues and school friends packed the pews Thursday at the Bethel AME church in Co- lumbia for the funeral of the 74-year-old Rev. Dan- iel Simmons Sr. Simmons is the last of theninevictimsoftheJune 17shootingsatthepredom- inantly black Charleston's Emanuel AME to be bur- ied. They were shot at a Bi- ble study Simmons regu- larly attended. A white man, Dylann Storm Roof, faces nine counts of murder in the slayings. During the course of his career with the AME church, Simmons served at or was a minister at eight AME churches in the state, his associates recalled. "This man never rested. He always worked. He always had work to do," said state Sen. John Scott, D-Columbia, in re- marks at the funeral. Many of those attend- ing were colleagues from Simmons' days at Al- len University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in education ad- ministration. He earned a master's degree in so- cial work from the Uni- versity of South Carolina in Columbia, and a mas- ter's of divinity from the Lutheran Seminary in Co- lumbia. CHARLESTON Last funeral for victim of shooting By Kevin Mcgill and Rebecca Santana The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS Trying to close the books on the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. his- tory, BP agreed Thursday to provide billions of dollars in new money to five Gulf Coast states in a deal the company said would bring its full obligations to an es- timated $53.8 billion. Federal and state govern- ment officials touted the re- cord-breaking $18.7 billion as a historic milestone in the Gulf Coast's recovery. The Deepwater Horizon di- saster killed 11 rig workers and spewed millions of gal- lons of crude that stained beaches, coated wildlife and polluted marshes. BP also gets a valuable return: Much of the pay- ments, to be made over the next 18 years, could be tax- deductible. And by finally providing shareholders with a clearer cost picture, the London-based oil giant will be more free to embark on new ventures. "This allows us to man- age BP as an oil company," BP CEO Bob Dudley said during a conference call. He said BP could launch as many as 20 major new proj- ects by 2020, depending on oil prices. The Justice Department said Thursday's agreement would be the largest envi- ronmental settlement in U.S. history as well as the largest-ever civil settle- ment with a single entity. Civil claims by the five Gulf states and the federal gov- ernment were, by far, the largest unresolved piece of BP's financial obligations for the spill. BP's total spill-related cost estimate also includes roughly $29 billion on re- sponse and cleanup ex- penses and compensation for Gulf Coast businesses and residents. In 2012, BP reached a similar settlement agree- ment with private attor- neys for businesses and res- idents who claim the spill cost them money. That deal, which didn't have a cap, led to a protracted court battle over subsequent payouts to businesses. A court-super- vised claims administrator is still processing many of these claims. GULF OIL SPILL $18.7B deal clears path for BP to close books By Lolita C. Baldor and Ben Nuckols The Associated Press WASHINGTON Investiga- tors found no evidence of a shooting after the Wash- ington Navy Yard went on lockdown Thursday when someone reported shots fired in the same building where a gunman killed 12 workers in a rampage two years ago. D.C. police said a woman called from inside a Navy Yard building to report that she might have heard sounds of gunshots around 7:20 a.m. However, investi- gators found no sign of a shooting, a shooter or any- one injured. No arrests were made and no weapons found, of- ficials said. "At this time there is no evidence of gunshots," Mayor Muriel Bowser said. "There is no evidence of a shooter, and there is no evi- dence of any victims today." A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Navy security saw sur- veillance video of two peo- ple jumping the fence in the vicinity of the building a couple of minutes before the first report of gunfire. Security found no one in- side the building, the offi- cial said. Officials do not believe the report was a hoax, D.C. police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters. In- vestigators interviewed the woman who made the call, Lanier said, and she did exactly as authorities reg- ularly tell people: Report anything you think may be suspicious. Shortly after the report, a heavy police and fire de- partment presence began blocks away from the Navy Yard, with roads blocked and a helicopter hovering overhead. The FBI and Bu- reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene. At a news conference, local and Navy officials praised the work of all the responding agencies and called it well- coordinated. Gates to the Navy Yard were closed, and all peo- ple were advised to shelter in place, said Chatney Au- ger, spokeswoman for Na- val District Washington. Thousands would have been at the base at the time of the reports, Navy public affairs officer Chris John- son told reporters outside the Navy Yard, the coun- try's oldest naval installa- tion. In September 2013, mil- itary contractor Aaron Alexis killed 12 civilian workers at the Navy Yard's Building 197 before he was fatally shot by police. The building has since been renamed the Humphreys Building. It reopened this year. When facilities specialist Chris Robertson heard an alarm and loudspeaker in- structions about 7:30 a.m., he said his first thought was: "Here we go again." He said his supervisor called at 7:33 a.m. and told him and his two co-work- ers to leave. He also said he hadn't noticed anything unusual Thursday morning — everything was normal. WASHINGTON Police: No evidence of shooting at Navy Yard ANDREW HARNIK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A large police presence is seen looking down M St. in Southeast Washington on Thursday near the Washington Navy Yard campus. By Alan Fram The Associated Press WASHINGTON Senate Ma- jority Leader Mitch McCo- nnell said Thursday that his chamber is unlikely to approve an American am- bassador to Cuba, dishing out a quick rebuff to Presi- dent Barack Obama and his drive to normalize relations with the U.S. neighbor and longtime Cold War foe. The Kentucky Republi- can also suggested that the GOP — which controls Con- gress — would fight Obama administration efforts to fully lift trade and travel re- strictions that have limited American commerce and tourism with the commu- nist-led island nation. Mc- Connellsaidthecountrywas led by "a thuggish regime." ThecommentsbyMcCon- nell came a day after Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced that the two nations will open em- bassiesinHavanaandWash- ington July 20 and resume diplomatic relations severed in 1961, the year Obama was born. McConnell's remarks underscored that despite a push to ease the curbs by U.S. business and agri- culture interests and some GOP lawmakers, Republi- can leaders remain sympa- thetic to the party's more conservative, anti-Cas- tro voices. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and several contenders for the GOP's 2016 presiden- tial nomination criticized Obama's moves shortly af- ter they were announced Wednesday. "You would think that the normalization of rela- tions with Cuba would be accompanied by some mod- ification of their behavior," McConnell said Thurs- day at Commerce Lexing- ton, the chamber of com- merce for Lexington, Ken- tucky. Instead, he called the country "a police state" and "a haven for criminals" wanted in the U.S. "I don't see any evidence at all that they are going to change their behavior. So I doubt if we'll confirm an ambassador, they proba- bly don't need one," McCo- nnell said. He added, "Some of their restrictions on Cuba would require legislation to lift, and we're going to resist that." Though Obama has not nominated an ambassador for Cuba yet, the current top U.S. diplomat there, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, was expected to be considered for the post. Labeling the moment "a choice between the fu- ture and the past," Obama on Wednesday revealed the latest steps in a half-year of rapid-fire improvements in relations between two na- tions that lie 90 miles apart but have spent nearly six decades separated by light years diplomatically and economically. Obama also asked Con- gress to lift the economic and travel embargoes that the U.S. has used for de- cades to try forcing Cuba's leaders toward democracy. Obama has partly eased those restrictions on his own, but even before Mc- Connell's comments Thurs- day, longtime opposition from many Republicans and some Democrats had made it unlikely that law- makers will fully revoke the bans quickly. When President Dwight Eisenhower broke rela- tions in 1961 with the com- munist regime of Raul's brother, Fidel Castro, it set the tone for decades of Cold War hostility that included failed U.S.-backed efforts to overthrow the island na- tion's leaders. Besides McConnell and Boehner, denunciations also have come from sev- eral 2016 GOP presidential hopefuls, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Cuban-American Republi- can Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas. In a typical com- ment, Bush said warming relations should "advance the cause of human rights and freedom for the Cuban people" and said the ad- ministration's moves were "failing this test." While Republicans are likely to strongly oppose large expenditures to im- prove relations with Cuba, the administration may be able to use smaller amounts to buttress its dip- lomatic presence there. Obama has requested $6 million to improve the cur- rent, lower-level U.S. out- post there. 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