Three months after the federal budget cuts known as the sequester took effect, some say the exercise has proved relatively painless, but others insist programs serving the most needy are taking damaging hits. We examine the sequester's local impact and explore how the budget cuts will continue to unfold.

The annual shareholders' meeting of retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was marked by protests this week, as striking workers assembled in Arkansas to call for higher wages and better safety rules. A former Bangladeshi garment worker spoke inside the meeting.

As President Obama and his Chinese counterpart prepare for a two-day summit in California, a new Pew survey shows that distrust between the two peoples is on the rise.

The Chicago Sun-Times made a surprise announcement last week: it fired its entire photography staff. Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist John White worked there for more than forty years. He talks to guest host Celeste Headlee about what this news means for him personally and the future of photojournalism.

June means graduation, but walking across the stage is creating anxiety for new grads looking for jobs. Guest host Celeste Headlee speaks with NPR Senior Business Editor Marilyn Geewax, and the Wall Street Journal's Sudeep Reddy about Friday's job numbers, and how the hunt is going for recent graduates.

Friday's news from the Labor Department offers a snapshot of an economy that's treading water. Employers added 175,000 jobs in May, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.6 percent. The numbers show "the ongoing slog in the labor market," one economist said.