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ers are hiring at a sustained pace. That's what policymakers and job hunters have hoped for since the Great Recession ended more than 4½ years ago.
• "I think the economy's finally moving into third gear here," said Ethan Harris, global economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
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His administration rocked by scandal, Christie looks to recover after apologies, staff shakeup
• TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A wounded Chris Christie is working to move beyond the most challenging test of his political career, while the New Jersey Republican governor's critics promise to keep probing a traffic scandal that rocked his administration this week and threatens to tarnish his national image ahead of the next presidential contest.
• Christie's allies suggest the worst is behind him, although federal prosecutors are examining the case and thousands more internal documents are scheduled for release on Friday.
• "I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team," the famously blunt Christie said Thursday while facing reporters.
• Christie had previously assured the public that his staff had nothing to do with lane closings last fall that caused major backups at the George Washington Bridge. But after documents revealed Wednesday that his administration may have intentionally caused the traffic jam to exact political retribution, the governor fired a top aide and jettisoned his chief political adviser.
• Christie adamantly denied any personal "knowledge or involvement" in the lane closures, a passionate pronouncement that satisfied some critics in the short term but creates political risk amid ongoing investigations. Democrats and Republicans said the governor's 2016 presidential prospects could be severely undermined, if not crippled, should new evidence emerge that contradicts this week's denials.
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For Fort Lee, George Washington Bridge traffic is a constant, but notoriety is something new
• FORT LEE, N.J. (AP) -- When Mayor Mark Sokolich's annual Christmas card showed up in mailboxes a few weeks ago, some residents took careful note of the photo selected for the front: the steely silhouette of this borough's treasured, and sometimes detested, George Washington Bridge -- and a Revolutionary War can (Continued on page 29)
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