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ByEricaWerner TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON Afterweeks of turmoil, the Senate con- firmed Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch as the Supreme Court's youngest justice Fri- day, filling a 14-month va- cancy after the death of An- tonin Scalia and restoring a rightward tilt that could last for years. Gorsuch will be sworn in Monday and will quickly begin confronting cases of consequence, including one involving separation of church and state that the justices will take up in less than two weeks. At 49, he is decades younger than several of the other justices — two are in their 80s and one is 78 — raising the possibility that President Donald Trump will have a chance to ap- point more conservatives to a court that has been somewhat balanced in re- cent years. Vice President Mike Pence was presiding as the Senate voted 54-45 in fa- vor of Gorsuch, a veteran of Denver's 10th U.S. Cir- cuit of Appeals whose con- servative rulings make him an intellectual heir to Sca- lia, who died in February 2016. Republicans blocked Barack Obama from filling the seat all last year. The outcome was a major victory for Trump, his first big congressional win. And it was cause for celebration for conservatives, who have often seemed willing to for- give various Trump failings next to the chance to win this lifetime appointment to the most important court on the land. The judge won sup- port from 51 of the cham- ber's Republicans as well as three moderate Democrats up for re-election in states Trump won last fall: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who has been recovering from back surgery, did not vote. Gorsuch's name was on a list of potential choices Trump produced during the campaign, and was vet- ted by conservative groups including the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. That unusual external review omitted consultation with Senate Democrats, contributing to bitter Democrat com- plaints about the way the whole process was han- dled. Gorsuch is expected to join a conservative-lean- ing voting bloc of justices, making five on the nine- member court. As soon as April 13, he could take part in his first private confer- ence, where justices de- cide whether to hear cases — and some of them could involve gun rights, voting rights and a Colorado bak- er's refusal to design a cake for a same-sex couple's wed- ding. Friday's Senate vote was the final act in a corrosive political confrontation that began with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's decision immediately after Scalia's death to hold the seat open for the next president to fill, rather than convene hear- ings for Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland. Democrats seethed for months over Garland's treatment, and under pres- sure from liberal activists fuming over the Trump presidency they mounted a filibuster Thursday to block Gorsuch. McConnell, R-Ky., immediately responded, as expected, by leading his Republicans in a unilateral rules change to lower the vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees from 60 to a simple majority in the 100-member Senate. That paved the way for Gorsuch's confirmation vote Friday, but left lawmakers of both parties bemoan- ing the undoing of comity in the Senate and warning that the 60-vote filibuster barrier on regular legisla- tion, a key tool to force bi- partisan cooperation, could be next to go. McConnell vowed that would not hap- pen on his watch. WASHINGTON GorsuchconfirmationrollsSupremeCourttotheright SUSANWALSH—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate confirmed Gorsuch to become the newest associate justice on the Supreme Court Friday. By Christopher S. Rugaber and Josh Boak The Associated Press WASHINGTON U.S. employ- ers cut back sharply on hir- ing in March, yet Friday's jobs report still had much to be encouraged about, in- cluding a drop in the unem- ployment rate to 4.5 per- cent, the lowest in a decade. Employers added just 98,000 jobs, the Labor De- partment said. It was barely half the previous month's gain. Yet unemployment dropped from 4.7 percent, reaching its lowest point since May 2007. While the rate has fallen in the past because of unemployed workers who had given up looking, it happened this time because of a healthy gain in the number of peo- ple with jobs. "Withinthedisappointing 98,000 net new jobs added, there seems to be a lot more going on beneath the sur- face, and what is going be- neath the surface is mostly good," said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo. Here are the positive as- pects of the report, followed by some parts that were not so hot: JobgrowthstillOK In the past three months, employers have added an average of 178,000 jobs a month. That's much better than March's increase and is closer to the underlying trend, economists said. That's also just below the average gains of 187,000 jobs a month last year. Hir- ing should rebound closer to that level in the coming months, economists say. Hit from weather One reason last month's weak gain was probably a blip is that harsh win- ter weather in New Eng- land and the Midwest most likely hurt hiring in con- struction, retail and other weather-sensitive indus- tries. Also, construction companies reported huge job gains in January and February, when the weather was unseasonably warm, so they didn't need to engage in their usual spring hiring. Better jobs The job gains last month, while tepid, occurred in better-paying industries, such as manufacturing and a category that includes ac- counting, engineering and other professional services. Lower-paying fields, such as retail, cut jobs, while a category that includes res- taurants and hotels posted a small gain. And all the new jobs added were full time, the government said. The num- ber of Americans who are workingparttimebutwould prefer a full-time job fell. An alternative unem- ployment measure, which includes involuntary part- time workers, fell to 8.9 per- cent, its lowest level since December 2007, when the Great Recession started. That's down from a peak in 2010 of 17.1 percent. Same economy Consumer and business optimism has soared since the presidential election. Many companies eagerly await the tax cuts and de- regulation promised by President Trump. Yet so far, there is little ev- idence that better sentiment hastranslatedintomorehir- ing, spending or economic growth. Companies are add- ingworkersatthesamepace they did last year. And con- sumers trimmed their infla- tion-adjusted spending in January and February. Stagnant wages Average hourly earnings climbed 2.7 percent over the past year, not much of a win for workers. And af- ter factoring in inflation in the past year, paychecks are essentially flat. "Right now, real wages are basically stagnant," said Megan Greene, chief economist at Manulife As- set Management. "That's why things like retail sales growth and other indica- tors for consumer demand have been so anemic." 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