Business

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And our last word in business today: prime Washington real estate.

Prestige address, 16 bedrooms, 35 bathrooms, three kitchens, all nestled on 18 acres of manicured gardens.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with Apple and Amazon.

People who own iPhones, iPads and iPods will now be able to purchase music from Amazon directly onto those devices. NPR's Laura Sydell reports on Amazon's latest attempt to compete with iTunes.

Steve Inskeep interviewed Whole Foods CEO John Mackey on Wednesday and Thursday. Mackey has a new book out called Conscious Capitalism. Mackey used the word "facism" when answering a question about the health care measure.

The construction industry in the U.S. is staging a comeback. In one indicator, the Commerce Department announced Thursday that new homebuilding has reached its highest level in 4 1/2 years.

While that's a promising sign for the industry, more than 2 million construction jobs have been lost in the sector since employment hit its peak. While some might expect that means plenty of people are ready to fill the new jobs, many markets around the country are actually experiencing a shortage of construction workers.

American Airlines unveiled the first change to its logo and the look of its planes since 1968 on Thursday.

When The Salt posted Wednesday that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey told Morning Edition that President Obama's health care overhaul isn't socialism, it's "fascism," there was quite a response. The post has more than 500 comments, so far.

There were 335,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, down 37,000 from the week before, the Employment and Training Administration reports.

That's the lowest total for any one week since January 2008.