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Update at 8:20 a.m. ET. Hiring Picked Up In December:

The morning's second employment-related report also brings at least modestly good news.

"Private sector employment increased by 215,000 jobs from November to December," according to the latest ADP National Employment Report.

And ADP revised up its figure on growth in November, to a gain of 148,000 jobs — vs. its original estimate of 118,000.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene. Don't play with the iPad if Mom tells you not to, especially if Mom's a prankster. Eight-year-old Kenyon was looking at a car on eBay. Mom told him he accidentally bought it for $50,000.

KENYON: Is that true? Did I?

MOM: I'm afraid so.

GREENE: She posted his reaction on YouTube.

KENYON: It was a Mustang. I didn't mean to buy it.

Chinese authorities have outlawed blowing through a yellow light at an intersection. The change has prompted vocal protest — even at the official Chinese news agency.

By letting the House take up the Senate's fiscal cliff-dodging legislation that raises income tax rates on the wealthiest earners, Speaker John Boehner answered affirmatively a question that had been on many minds: Would he allow an up-or-down floor vote on a bill opposed by most fellow House Republicans?

Until the New Year's Day vote, Boehner had generally operated the House under what was known as the Hastert Rule. Named for former Speaker Dennis Hastert, it required a "majority of the majority" to support legislation before the speaker approved a floor vote.

Michigan's Mackinac Island was fought over by France, England and the United States. The 200-year-old city in northern Lake Huron is a popular tourist destination. But the demolition of old buildings has raised a fierce debate about how to hold onto the past while profiting from it.

On Friday, new unemployment numbers will be released for December. In last month's report, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent, a four-year low. For a preview of the labor market prospects for the new year, Steve Inskeep talks to Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, an international consulting firm.

The Bank of Canada released the high-tech bills in 2011. The goal was to make the money indestructible. But some Canadians who have their hands on the banknotes say the plastic bills melt when subjected to extreme heat. Publicly, the Bank of Canada isn't confirming the flaw.

Farmers and ranchers across the country expected to start 2013 with a new farm bill, the legislation setting agricultural policy for the next five years. But the new farm bill got scrapped after more than a year of work when Congress passed the "fiscal cliff" deal.