Image: WaPo

The U.S. economy added 266k jobs in April, according to a report published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• The nationwide unemployment rate rose to 6.1% (from 6.0%) while the labor force participation rate rose to 61.7% (from 61.5%), its highest rate since August.
• For comparison, the month before the pandemic started - February 2020 - those numbers were 3.5% and 63.4%, respectively.

🤿 A deeper dive…
Forecasters had predicted gains of up to 1M jobs, making the report the biggest monthly miss, relative to expectations, since at least 1998 (per National Review).

• Previously reported payroll gains in March were also revised downward from an initial 916k to 770k.

📢 Public Response
In remarks at the White House, President Biden urged “perspective” on the report, citing the more than 1.5M jobs created since he took office as proof the economy is well on its way to recovery.

• "The disappointing April jobs report highlights the urgent need to pass President Biden’s American Jobs and Families Plans.  We need to take bold action to Build Back Better from this crisis by investing in our nation, our workers and our families." – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in a statement.
• Other lawmakers joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in calling for an end to the $300 weekly federal unemployment supplement, which they argue disincentivizes prospective workers from searching for jobs.

💻 Cyberattack on Major U.S. Fuel Pipeline

Image: Colonial Pipeline

A major gas pipeline running from Texas to New Jersey shut down on Saturday after the company in charge learned it was a victim of a ransomware attack.

• Colonial Pipeline Company did not reveal what was demanded in the cyberattack or by whom, but said it hired a third-party cybersecurity agency and contacted law enforcement and other federal agencies to help address the issue.

More: The 5,500-mile-long pipeline transports roughly 45% of the East Coast’s fuel supplies each day.

From Axios: "[There] should not be a price impact if it’s restarted in the next couple days, after that it could turn into one where prices go up. But by how much depends on if consumers panic and start buying gasoline." –Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

Images: Instagram (@amazin_mii)

“Meet 4-year-old Noah... who loves SpongeBob sooo much that he managed to purchase $2,618.85 worth of SpongeBob popsicles from Amazon... If you’re wondering, that’s 51 cases, containing 918 popsicles.”

When Noah mistakenly ordered 51 cases of the popsicles, his mother, Jennifer, panicked. The non-refundable purchase was way out of her budget as a mom of three and student at NYU.

She started a GoFundMe page to try and cover the cost, and was shocked to see the entire $2,619 goal covered in less than 24 hours.

• One week in, the page has raised over $22,000 for the family.

“As a parent to a child living with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder),” shared Jennifer, “all additional donations will go towards Noah’s Education and additional supports. We cannot thank you enough. Truly.”

Read more.

🪓 The Wood That Could…

Images: YouTube

Traditionally, wood manufacturing has been a subtractive process: a tree is felled, and its timber is sawed and sanded down to the desired shape.

• Forust, a California-based woodworking company, aims to make it an additive process.

Using high-speed 3D-printing technology, the company up-cycles waste byproducts to build high-strength wood products layer-by-layer (pictured above). Once complete, the 3D-printed wood can be sanded and stained like its traditional counterpart.

Read more.

Who created the first political cartoon published in a U.S. newspaper?

A) Ben Franklin
B) Dr. Seuss
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) Charles M. Schulz

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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A) Ben Franklin

The very first U.S. political cartoon appeared in The Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754, as part of an editorial by Franklin commenting on “the present disunited State of the British Colonies.”

Per The History Channel: "Franklin’s goal was to unite the colonists to combat the French and their Native American allies, and to convince the British government to support a unified colonial government in America. He didn’t achieve that goal, but the image was so powerful and persuasive that it took on a life of its own. A few years later, in the prelude to the Revolutionary War, colonists repurposed it as a symbol of their unity against British rule."

View it here.