1. Report: Coal billionaire Chris Cline dies in Bahamas helicopter crash
Billionaire West Virginia coal entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Republican donor Chris Cline reportedly was among seven Americans killed in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas on Thursday. "Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend," West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) tweeted. The helicopter crashed during a flight from Big Grand Cay in the Bahamas to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Bahamian police said. Authorities said the helicopter disappeared shortly after takeoff, and local residents later spotted the crash site, two miles off Grand Cay island. Cline's daughter also reportedly was on board. Police only identified the victims as four women and three men, without providing names.
2. U.S. adds 224,000 jobs in June
The U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs in June, far exceeding economists' forecast of about 170,000 and marking a strong rebound from May's weak 75,000-job gain. The Labor Department also reported Friday that the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent from 3.6 percent, as an additional 300,000 people entered the work force looking for jobs. The new figure is still near a 50-year low. The June job gains were well above the level economists view as enough to expand the labor force. The average wage increased by 6 cents to $27.90 an hour, and the 12-month rate of hourly wage gains remained unchanged at 3.1 percent.
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3. Stocks edge down after holiday
U.S. stock index futures edged lower early Friday ahead of the resumption of trading after the Fourth of July holiday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq were all down between 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent early in the morning, and the losses deepened slightly following the Labor Department's release of a strong June jobs report. The job gains of 224,000 exceeded economists' expectations, signaling economic strength and appearing to reduce the odds of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its late July meeting. The Fed has said it would "act as appropriate" to keep the current economic expansion going.
4. Samsung expects another big drop in quarterly profit
Samsung Electronics said Friday its operating profit for the quarter that just ended was most likely $5.5 billion, slightly better than analysts expected but down by 56 percent from the same period last year. The South Korean tech giant struggled with ongoing weakness in the price and demand for memory chips; memory components for mobile handsets and enterprise servers are the company's main profit makers. Samsung will post final figures for the quarter later this month. If they match Friday's guidance, it will be the second straight quarter in which the company saw its operating profit fall by more than half compared to the same period a year earlier. In the first quarter, Samsung's profits came in 60 percent lower than a year earlier.
5. MAD magazine to end 67-year run
The satirical MAD magazine will disappear from newsstands following the publication of its August issue, ending a 67-year run after facing dwindling circulation. DC, the division of Warner Brothers that publishes the magazine, said after the summer MAD will recycle previously released cartoons and parodies, and be available at comic book stores or by subscription. MAD will publish new content only in special, year-end editions. MAD, with its iconic gap-toothed mascot Alfred E. Neuman ("What, me worry?), has influenced generations of readers, including comedians. "It's pretty much the reason I turned out weird," tweeted "Weird Al" Yankovic. Josh Weinstein, a writer and producer of The Simpsons, tweeted a thank you to MAD, saying: "There was a moment in so many of our childhoods where you were the greatest thing ever."
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