Dan Ronan

NPR's Ava Batrani has details.

Stronger than expected, consumer spending in the third quarter of the year pushed the nation's gross domestic product to a 4.3 percent annual rate.

The Commerce Department report said the total value of both goods, economic goods and services, was higher than the 3.8 percent rate in the second quarter.

more.

However, there are persistent concerns about stubborn inflation.

And you're listening to NPR News.

A jury has awarded Johnson & Johnson, ordered Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries to pay $1.5 billion to a Baltimore woman after finding the company liable for exposing her to asbestos through baby powder.

WYPR's Scott Massione reports it is the largest win for a single person in a talc-related case.

The Christmas Eve Powerball jackpot is now up to an estimated $1.7 billion after there was no winner in the Monday drawing.

The prize is expected to be the fourth largest in U.S.

lottery history.

and there have been at least 46 consecutive drawings since September without a big winner.

Wednesday's $1.7 billion jackpot has a cash value of $781 million.

Stocks on Wall Street closed the day Tuesday with a high.

The S&P finished at a record 6,909.

From Washington, I'm Dan Ronan, NPR News.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roman.

A new set of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reveals more connections between Epstein and President Trump.

The Department of Justice Tuesday released an estimated 30,000 pages of documents, flight logs, and letters.

NPR political correspondent Sarah McCammon and her colleagues reviewing the files, and they show a closer relationship between Trump and Epstein than first reported.