to win his race. if he does it will send a warning to the underperforming parties that if they can't do better the citizens now have other choices. and you can keep up to date with all of the day's news on our website, aljazeera.com. new job numbers out today, a good tine for the economy. a hack attack on the federal government personal data stolen on up to 4 million people. the u.s. pointing the finger at china. and newly leaked documents from edward snowden claimed the nsa has explained its spying in secret including collecting information on americans. ♪

this is al jazeera america, live from new york city i'm stephanie sy. good news for the economy, the latest job s report showed 280,000 new jobs created last month. the unemployment rate edged up slightly to 5.5%. and workers are being paid more as well. average hourly wages picked up $0.08. that is up 2.3% year-over-year. to help us make sense of these numbers, we are joinedly a labor economist and the former president of bennett college for women. thank you for your time. how excited should we do about this 28,000 headline number? >> we should be guardedly excited. that's the best news out of the

unemployment report is the 280,000. you'll be hearing a lot about it because it's the key number. economists thought we looked something more like 230, maybe as low as 200. but at the same time -- >> go ahead. >> one might ask what kind of jobs were created. one might look at the unemployment rate and look at subgroups. a 5.5% is, quote, not bad, but we look at the african american community with 10.2 that's a lot worse, and the people out of the labor market, who are discouraged workers, the 5.5 turns into 10.6 and the number for african american 10.2, turns into 20%, or one in five. >> has the obama administration done enough to address that sort of uneven quality of the recovery that you are referring

to? >> not at all, i think the president's approach has been that a rising tide lifts all boats. there has been very little targets since the beginning when we had the recovery package back in 2009, 2010 but since then is there has been nothing, and that has been a disappointment in the african american community. >> all right. let's broaden this discussion out again, and look at average hourly wages, which is another good news part of this report. 2.3% year-over-year that's shy of the 3 to 3.5% janet yellen would like to see. it is still moving in the right direction. do you think we'll see bigger better paychecks in the months ahead? >> $0.08 over a month is again, is something to note.

it's not the greatest news in the world, but 2.3% is good but at the same time we expect gdp growth to be higher so it means that workers are not getting their share of returns from productivity. working harder and not getting as much. if we look over the last 35 years, what we find is that wages have been pretty flat for people at the bottom. the people picking up are people in the top 20% of the population. so it's great to see the almost $25 an hour wage but we have people who are still fighting for $15 an hour. we have people still earning the minimum wage which has not been raised in nearly a decade again, very uneven growth and we have five states that have no minimum wage at all, and a congress that seems to oppose increasing minimum wages. >> you brought up gdp growth

and we have that sort of downward pressure on gdp in the first fiscal quarter of this year how do you reconcile this jobs number with that gdp report? >> people are not sending money. we're not going to get economic expansion until people spending money. 75% of our gdp is about consumer spending. and most consumers have been extremely cautious about their spending. they are not spending the way they spend in let's say 2006, 2007 so until people feel more sure about their economic futures, they are not going to spend a lot of money. and until that spending that money, we're not going to see the kind of growth that we would like to see. >> the government is beefing up its security today after one of

the largest data breaches in history. they stole information of almost 4 million current and former federal workers. let's go to kimberley hall cut. what have officials said about how this breach happened? >> the government was attempting to strengthen and put in place cyber security measures when they discovered that not only had this occurred but it was more vast than anyone imagined. every major federal agency have been affected. this is just under the executive branch of the legislation. current and former employees, that's why they are telling all

of these please to monitor their credit reports, their financial statements the certain is that this could be broader than anyone even imagined. >> and officials are alleging china is behind the attack. why do they think that and how has china responded? >> reporter: they haven't provided the concrete evidence only saying they have worked with their investigators, and traced this back to what they believe were hackers working with the chinese military. but this is something china is vehemently denying. and saying this is why it illustrates that other nations could work together to make sure this doesn't happen again. >> how much alarm has this brought up in washington about the strength of cyber security and the u.s. government. >> the alarm bells were already ringing.

there have been numerous hearings about this issue. we should remember too earlier this year there was legislation to tougher up cyber security that was passed in the house but it is languishing in the senate. considering how widespread this breach is there may be some impetus to turn that legislation into law. >> kimberly thank you. earlier i asked an expert what she thought of the suggestion that china is responsible for the attack? >> it's very difficult to identify who the perpetrator is and where they are located. people who do this are fairly sophisticated and tend to hide their tracks. and even if the hackers were based in china, then there's a second-level question as to whether or not this was the chinese government itself behind

the attack. >> does this bolster the argument that nsa needs these measures. >> it is really important for a system not to have any back doors, no vulnerabilities that hackers can use to exploit. one thing that has come out was the nsa was deliberately putting vulnerabilities into the technology that protects our information online. so if you are building in vulnerabilities and you are increasing the chance that hackers can actually exploit them. >> so you are saying the nsa may be undermining its own tactics which are os -- ostensibly to protect americans. >> that's right. it's cyber defense and cyber offense, which is to make sure that the nsa can get into the

same systems and find out what it wants to find out. the problem is the system is ones and zeros. it doesn't know the difference between a hacker and an nsa employee. the pentagon blamed hackers for targeting military last year. the nsa has been targeting organizations around the world according to leaked documents from snowden. >> reporter: newly published top secret documents leaked by edward snowden reveal a secret surveillance program in which the nsa collaborated with the fbi to target foreign-based hackers in its counter based terror program. in 2012 the justice department gave the nsa permission to begin tracking what they suspected was malicious computer activity coming into the u.s. from

abroad. >> the bill is passed. >> reporter: the revelations come days after congress approved the freedom act, a bill intended to curb the nsa's spy powers and increase transparency. among the documents leaked an nsa memo describing request for help from the fbi in its investigation of foreign-based hackers. the memo goes on to describe how using the surveillance system would be more cost efficient and avoid duplication efforts. the intercepted communications would then be forwarded to the fbi. the plan was not publicly disclosed. >> what is particularly important about this revelation is it reveals a level of cooperation between the nsa and federal law enforcement that was undisclosed to the public and conducted in secret. the nsa is not supposed to operate domestically. in that used to be the law in

nsa land and now it almost seems laughable given how much survey lens than they are conducting. north korea has been linked to last year's hack attack against sony which cost the entertainment giant an estimated $15 million. the agency has been seeking less restrictions in its surveillance efforts but opponents argue this could hurt ordinary americans. >> being a victim of a cyber attack having some sort of attachment in your email might now be enough just a decision for the nsa to grab your email without a warrant, without process.

and that's pretty scary. edward snowden writes quote: the family of a man killed by boston police is calling for a transparent investigation into what happened. he was under surveillance by federal counter terrorism agents when he was killed. police say he threatened them with a knife. the suspect's brother says he is taking back his own comments that raheem was shot in the back for no reason. >> that was the initial commentary based on facts that were given to me initially. so with the development of the facts we understand the wounds

were not through the back so we acknowledge that fact. but the facts continue to come in. >> the fbi says he talked about his plans to kill a police officer and a prominent activist. a possible serial shooter has people in colorado concerned. a man was shot dead in loveland under suspicious circumstances, and officials are trying to figure out if it is linked to two other deaths. >> reporter: three shootings in six weeks all within 15 miles of each other is quite unusual for loveland colorado. law enforcement is searching for what they believe is a single suspect. a gunshot killed this man and it was feared it was fired by

someone who has done this before. >> we don't know if this is related to the other shootings, and if there is somebody or somebodies that is inflicting these crimes in the community, so there is a tendency for fear. >> reporter: the fear is that a serial shooter may be at large. they have already found links between two other unsolved shootings in loveland. 20 year old corey survived being shot in the neck as she drove along interstraight 25. and on may 18th six miles from where she was shot a 47-year-old was shot twice and killed while riding his bike. police have reached out for help in finding out if the latest shooting is also related. >> there are enough likenesses to this case that we as an

agency immediately reached out to the task force. >> investigators are going to look at ballistics sale of weapons, surveillance cameras in and around these shootings, and look to see if there's any sort of association in the background of the three victims. >> reporter: the possibility that there is a killer on the loose has people in loveland on edge. >> i'm scared to go around even in the daytime. >> i got, you know, two -- two children and a wife and i don't want to be outside playing with my kids or widing bikes or something down the sidewalk and somebody come by and shoot me or them. >> reporter: while loveland's police chief is asking that the community channel its fear into vigilant action and report anything that might be helpful right away. the fbi is offering a $10,000 reward for information. back to you. a new federal report shows frac-ing is not impacting the

water supply but environmental activists say the findings are tainted. ♪

welcome back to al jazeera america. it is 10:48 eastern, taking a look at today's top stories. the air force is easing its policy banning transgender service members. the army made a similar decision earlier this year. these are live pictures from the denver area where residents are cleaning up after some powerful storms. seven tornados swept through different parts of the state last night, destroying or damaging dozens of homes like this one. more severe weather is expected today including possible flash floods. and one of saddam hussein's former top deputies has died in prison. he reportedly had a heart attack. he had been on death row.

the environmental production agency says there is no evidence frac-ing is having a wide-spread impact on the country's water supply, but a study released by the agency warns it could make water supplies vulnerable to pollution. john terrett has more. >> reporter: frac-ing pumps water, sand and chemicals deep into the earth to break up rock and extract oil and natural gas. you the environmental protection agency in a preliminary report that took five years and cost $29 million says we did not find evidence that these mechanicisms have lead to widespread contamination of drinking water. it found a somebody of cases where poorly constructed wells contaminated drinking water. >> for a long time the industry

has been pushing back. they say frac-ing does not impact drinking water resources. this report shows it does in numerous areas, and shows the whole process from where you get the water, to how you dispose of it really there are problems within each of that. >> reporter: the epa report is unlikely to ease the concerns of people like this man. he believes frac-ing is making his 13-year-old daughter sick. >> i want to see her laughing and running and jumping again. i love my daughter. i'm move mad because the government won't hear poor people. >> reporter: three wells have been frac-ed within half a mile of his daughter's old school in the last three years. the epa notes that oil and gas companies failed to cooperate with them making it impossible

to make a determination in certain areas. >> ink the epa did the best they could, given the enormous data gaps and lack of cooperation with the industry. >> john terrett, al jazeera, washington. opec is keeping up oil production despite crashing prices. the cartel members have agreed to keep pumping 30 million barrels a day. but with increasing output from the u.s. and the possibility of iran coming into the market now, opec opec wields less power than they once did. >> reporter: it is likely expected that everything will remain the same. output levels that opec have set will stay the same even though there has been a glut to the marketplace, even though prices have fallen sharply these last few months. now one of the things that has

been an under current of tension these past few days has been the question about iran iran has made it clear they are ready to resupply the market if and when sanctions are lifted. they have possibly millions of a barrels of oil prepared to get into the market when and if sanctions are lifted. but that will be dealt with at a later time. the other little bit of tension here this week has been the fact that there are some countries that have made it clear that they are not happy with where the prices are at in the oil market right now. but fact of the matter is the countries controlling the agenda like saudi arabia qatar, the uae, these gulf countries, they really are setting the tone. they want the out put levels to

remain the same. a group of men charged with trying to kill pakistani activists malala yousafzai have been acquitted. they shot malala in the head on her school bus in october of 2012. eight of the ten men who were sentenced back in april have been cleared of all charges. it's not clear if those acquitted have been released. a rocky start to a plan in oregon to drive off sea lions where the state calling in reinforcement reinforcements. reinforcements.

a creative attempt to scare away sea lions in oregon has failed. the mechanical killer whale they were using capsized. >> reporter: not exactly your normal day at the boat launch. a 32-foot plywood and fiberglass orca floats off of the trailer and into service as a marine mammal control tool fully licensed as a legal vessel. the reason? the california sea lion

population has boomed in recent years. it varies with seasonal migration, but this spring tops 2,000 at the mouth of the river. they have cost the port nearly $150,000 a year. >> this cannot possibly be a safe place for the sea lions to reside. they were not meant or designed to lounge on docks. >> reporter: state and federal biologists expect the bigger population to eat more salmon putting extra pressure on endangered fish shocks. in billingham washington this while watching operator saw the pictures and had an idea based on years of observing orcas and sea lions in the wild. >> how do orcas and sea lions get along? >> reporter: they don't. it doesn't take an orca very long to put a sea lion out of

his misery. >> reporter: earlier this week his partner gave us a tour. >> the eyeballs of the whale will be running lights. >> reporter: this crew worked nearly around the clock to produce the whale. it can produce a chatter, sending a message, we're here and we're hungry. that's the theory. terry picked up the phone and cold called the port. >> told him i had this whale. and he said get it down here immediately. let's try it. >> reporter: so it made the 270-mile interstate trip. but it is not universally welcomed here. the sea lions have their

supporters. the orca good or bad idea? >> it's a better idea than the electric mats. >> reporter: but you are not a big fan? >> no because i love these animals. >> reporter: launched in the boat basin in front of a sunset crowd of hundreds. but outside the break water catastrophe, it flips. and with the sea lions barking and unmoved, the orca is taken in tow. american frerotte has a chance to break the triple count jinks. belmont is nicknamed the graveyard of champions, because the last horse to win was a force called affirmed in 1978. thanks for watching. i'm stephanie sy. the news continues next live from doha. have a great day.

♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour. i'm shiulie ghosh in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes, iraq's formal deputy prime minister and saddam hussein's confidante has died in prison. maggie noodles regulators say are unsafe to eat. nestle' says they are fine. and opec maintains production despite