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The nation's unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent in March, the lowest level since 2000, and employers added 211,000 jobs to their payrolls. Economists say growth in service and construction may explain why the unemployment rate for immigrants is lower than that of native-born Americans.

The popularity of Duranguense music has made the link between Chicago and Durango, Mexico, more visible. But the connection is deeper than most creators and fans of the music know.

President Bush names Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to replace Porter Goss as director of the CIA, touching off what may be a tough confirmation battle. Several members of Congress have criticized a controversial eavesdropping program that Hayden ran as director of the National Security Agency.

LaQuedra Edwards had put $40 into a lottery vending machine at a supermarket in Los Angeles when "some rude person" bumped into her, causing her to buy a different lottery ticket than she intended.

Nearly 35 years after her self-titled debut album, Bonnie Raitt is still moaning the blues. Her latest album, Souls Alike, features her trademark slide guitar, which she says can produce "the saddest sound you've ever heard."

Williamstown Theatre Festival in western Massachusetts offers a summer program that has been called "theater boot camp." British-trained actor Roger Rees is the company's new artistic director.

Lizzie Goodman from Blender magazine discusses new releases from Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs, The B-52's, and Madonna.

Ben Sollee just wants us to get along. On his debut, full-length release, Learning to Bend, the Kentucky-born singer offers an inspired collection of acoustic, folk and jazz-flavored songs, filled with hope and the earnest belief that the world is good.

In the U.S., the British folk scene has never been as well-known as its counterparts in rock and pop, but David Gray is changing that. For more than a decade, this wordsmith out of Manchester has been laying down album after album of bright folk music. Hear him in a session from WXPN.

The band closed with a cover of Low's 1999 song "Just Like Christmas." Fanfarlo's members had practiced it all the way from Baltimore to D.C.

The noodle-obsessed chef's Momofuku chain has converted many New Yorkers to his brand of anything-but-instant ramen. Now Chang brings his recipe to the world in a new cookbook, Momofuku.

In a session from KPLU, blues guitarist Tab Benoit plays through a couple songs all by his lonesome, yet manages to conjure an entire band all his own. Benoit also talks about creating "Voice of the Wetlands," a group that raises awareness about the importance of Louisiana's natural resources.

The conductor says that his goal is for more people to appreciate and recognize classical music for its complexity, organization and beauty. In an interview, Ponti discusses his work, his son and the best way for a classical-music novice to discover pure symphonic joy.

Last November, for the first time in his career, Morrison revisited his second album, Astral Weeks, in concert. The result, Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl, arrives this week, offering a fresh take on one of the key recordings in late '60s rock.

The brooding dub-rock of South Africa's BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks) is a formidable addition to the musical landscape of indie-rock, with potential to appeal to the audiences enchanted by the likes of Vampire Weekend and TV on the Radio. PRI's Marco Werman interviews the band about their "post-apartheid" music.

After being barred from performing at Constitution Hall in 1939 because she was black, opera singer Marian Anderson gave a performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Author Raymond Arsenault's new book, The Sound of Freedom, reflects on the cultural significance of Anderson's performance that Easter.

The pianist for the BMI/New York Jazz Composers Orchestra is also a singer and a former musical director at an Episcopal church. Her latest studio album elaborates on familiar jazz forms while embracing sacred texts, including a piece for Easter vespers.

The singer-songwriter with the weathered but vulnerable delivery has been touring and recording since his 1980 hit, "Romeo's Tune." With a new album out called The Place and the Time, he visited NPR headquarters for a solo performance and interview.

Kay Thompson was a musical director for MGM Studios, the author of the Eloise children's books and the star of her own long-running nightclub act. Liza Minnelli pays tribute to her real-life godmother in her latest, sold-out revue.

This soulful, guitar-filled R&B Tiny Desk Contest entry reminds us of how the best is ahead, even when the grind of everyday has us reaching our breaking point.