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This is the second in a two-part story about Wal-Mart. Read and listen to Part 1 here.

One of the biggest objections critics often raise about Wal-Mart is how it treats its workers.

The company has long been hammered by critics for its low pay and erratic work schedules. And its worker policies have a major impact on economies: With more than 2 million people on the payroll — 1.4 million of them in the U.S. — it's the third-largest employer in the world, behind the U.S. Defense Department and the People's Liberation Army of China.

So when Wal-Mart sets its sights on an urban area, it brings controversy — but it also brings jobs.

Take what happened in Washington, D.C. Wal-Mart opened its first locations in the nation's capital in late 2013 — only after it defeated a city council bill that would have required big retailers, and only big retailers, to pay higher wages.

After that bill failed, the city raised minimum wages for all D.C. employers to $9.50 per hour, which enabled Wal-Mart's opponents to claim partial victory.

"I was never really against Wal-Mart — I was against the wages that they were paying," says D.C. City Councilman Vincent Orange, who co-sponsored both wage bills. One point Orange made two years ago is that Wal-Mart's wages are so low, and D.C.'s cost of living so high, that workers end up on social services — food assistance and the like. While that's still true, Orange now says that it's better, on balance, to have the jobs.

"Yes, there are people that work at Wal-Mart that utilize social services," he says. "But Wal-Mart has also helped. Wal-Mart has offered jobs."

For D.C. native Ernest Reed, any wage was better than no wage at all. He was one of about 23,000 people who applied for hundreds of job openings when Wal-Mart launched its first D.C. locations.

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Hundreds of demonstrators rallied to protest Wal-Mart's labor practices in Hyattsville, Md., in Sept. 2013. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Hundreds of demonstrators rallied to protest Wal-Mart's labor practices in Hyattsville, Md., in Sept. 2013.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Reed, 62, had never before set foot in a Wal-Mart. Three months after starting, he was promoted to supervisor of the back room where deliveries are unloaded. Tall, energetic and charismatic, Reed works full time. That means a quarterly bonus, health care, and — for the first time in his life, he says — a retirement plan.

Reed wears a navy knit cap with the company logo — and people notice. "I can walk out the store right now and I guarantee, somebody will say, 'Man, do they have any openings, man? Are they hiring?' " Reed says. "I get this every day. Somebody's looking for a job at Wal-Mart."

Meanwhile, it's clear that the very community that opposed the store also shops here — in droves. Wal-Mart says its stores in the nation's capital have met traffic expectations. It says the stores contributed $6 million in tax revenue last year, that it currently employs 700 people in the city — mostly D.C. residents — and that it has brought down costs for shoppers in the city.

Not every employee is as positive as Reed, however. There have been worker protests in Washington, D.C., since the stores opened in December 2013, with protestors claiming that the retailer does not pay enough and fails to offer stable hours to its employees.

Fatmata Jabbie, a single mother of two toddlers, works as a cashier in the Wal-Mart in Northern Virginia, just outside the city. Jabbie, 21, earns $8.80 an hour and says her hours are all over the place, which makes it hard to arrange childcare and impossible to get a second job.

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Jessey Drewsen, 25, lives near the H Street Wal-Mart in Washington, D.C. She says she doesn't like the store, but that she goes there for cheap supplies like pens. Emily Jan/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Emily Jan/NPR

Jessey Drewsen, 25, lives near the H Street Wal-Mart in Washington, D.C. She says she doesn't like the store, but that she goes there for cheap supplies like pens.

Emily Jan/NPR

But mostly Jabbie complains that she can't get enough hours, even though she's repeatedly asked to be made full-time. When she expects to work 30 hours in a week, she says, "then they send you something like, 'Oh, go check your schedule.' " Often, she says, the store will drop her hours down to 20 or 26 hours. Sometimes, she says, "I'll have no hours for a week."

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman says the company plans to make schedules more predictable. She also points out that even part-time workers get some benefits, like a retirement plan and paid time off. But they must average 30 hours per week to receive health benefits.

Cashier Jabbie does not work enough hours to qualify. She also says she can't make ends meet without public assistance. "I have to get childcare assistance. And I have to get housing help. Wal-Mart, the money I'm getting ... is nothing."

Jabbie says everything she earns goes to her rent and utility bills. "I can't buy food with my Wal-Mart money. I have to wait for my food stamp[s] in order to buy food."

This week, Wal-Mart will raise its minimum pay to $9 an hour nationwide, and then again to $10 an hour next year. Jabbie says she's happy about that — she feels it's a response to the efforts of activists like herself. But a report released Thursday by Americans For Tax Fairness, a left-leaning advocacy group, finds that a full-time Wal-Mart worker would need to earn at least $15 an hour in order to stop qualifying for public assistance programs like food stamps.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg says the company will also be expanding opportunities to advance. "If an associate knows they want to move up to a certain position, they're gonna be able to have specific training for that position," she says. "It's kind of more of a mentor-type program, so it'll be a great opportunity for them."

As for how the communities around the Washington stores are adjusting to having Wal-Mart in their midst, it depends on whom you ask.

Rev. Graylan Hagler, a long-time community activist and pastor at the Plymouth Congregational church, will have three Wal-Marts in close proximity to his church. He says the city struck a bad bargain with the retailer by not holding out for higher-paying employers and making too many concessions.

"We have reconfigured all these streets to accommodate the development," Hagler says. He points to one example: a Wal-Mart on Georgia Avenue with a massive underground parking garage. Meanwhile, the on-street parking area that used to exist in front of the businesses across the street is now a no-parking zone.

But Wal-Mart has its community supporters, too, including Brenda Parks, an elected neighborhood liaison that NPR spoke with. She calls that Georgia Avenue Wal-Mart a great success. It draws traffic and revenue from nearby Maryland residents, and she says residents who opposed the project before it arrived now like it — and especially like having a new grocery store option close by.

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Wal-Mart

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Dear March,

We got your news that employers added just 126,000 jobs on your watch. Hate to say it, but you have disappointed everyone. No doubt you'll say you were under the weather — literally. Sure, it was cold, but still ... Let's hope April does better.

Sincerely,

America

On Friday, the Labor Department's report on weak jobs growth left economists scrambling to explain what went wrong in March.

Most had forecast about 245,000 new jobs for the month, but they were way off base. The Labor Department said employers added only 126,000 workers. The unemployment rate, which is determined by a separate survey of households, held steady at 5.5 percent.

The disappointing March report confirms a wintertime slowdown. The average monthly gain in the first three months of this year was just 197,000 new jobs, down sharply from an average of 324,000 in the final three months of last year.

The Two-Way

Economy Adds A Disappointing 126,000 Jobs In March

So while the positive hiring trend did continue into the new year, it clearly has lost momentum. A lot of people looked at the construction industry — which cut 1,000 jobs last month — and blamed the exceptionally cold temperatures for freezing up so much economic activity.

"One cannot be stunned if wave after wave of severe snow storms and [arctic] temperatures curbed hiring, slashed construction activity, and kept consumers from stores," economist Bernard Baumohl, with The Economic Outlook Group, wrote in his assessment.

This winter brought other problems, such as a drop in the oil-rig count and the West Coast port disruptions, which caused supply-chain reactions. Wells Fargo economists noted that currency changes also hurt, making U.S. exports more expensive this winter: "Manufacturing payrolls edged down by 1,000, with the workweek ticking down, suggesting some modest impact from the stronger dollar."

So fingers can be pointed at some extraordinary factors that weighed down job creation.

But maybe the slowdown's explanation is simpler than that. Maybe it just reflects a cooling of the economy after nearly six years of expansion. The unemployment rate has plunged in recent years, and in the prior 12 months, job growth was averaging a robust 269,000 a month.

So at some point, the labor market was bound to take a breather.

"In retrospect, a correction such as this was very likely," wrote Doug Handler, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.

Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who spoke with NPR, also noted that March's numbers have to be put into a longer perspective. Consider, he said, that private businesses have added 12.1 million jobs over 61 straight months of job growth, the longest streak on record.

In March 2014, the unemployment rate was 6.6 percent. Perez said that if someone had told him then that the rate would plunge to 5.5 percent in one year, "I would have thought it was an April Fools' joke."

The overall job market's performance in the past year has been strong, he said. "I look at trend data," and the trend has been the worker's friend.

So the big question hanging over the economy is: Did job growth just take a rest during the harsh winter, or is it shifting to a much slower pace?

Handler remains fundamentally optimistic. "This result is more of an aberration than a trend," he said. "The April report will be more in line with stronger reports issued earlier in the year, allowing the March data to be discounted."

And PNC economist Gus Faucher saw some hopeful signs in the wage data, which pointed upward. Workers' wages rose by 2.1 percent over the past year — which beats the consumer inflation rate. "The tighter labor market is leading businesses to raise pay to attract and retain workers," he said.

Still, the report showed enough weakness to suggest the Federal Reserve will be in no rush this summer to raise interest rates.

"Today's sluggish job numbers, job revisions and mild wage growth are signs the Federal Reserve should keep interest rates low for the foreseeable future," AFL-CIO economist Bill Spriggs said. "Today is confirmation the economic recovery is incomplete and we have a long way left to go."

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unemployment rate

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For most disabled residents of Rio de Janeiro, every day is an Olympian struggle.

Pick almost any sidewalk, says Lilia Martins, who uses an electric wheelchair. She chooses one just outside her place of work. The location is relevant because Martins is an advocate for disabled people in Rio. Even here, we only manage to go a short way before the pavement becomes cracked and broken with huge roots popping up. There is literally no way a wheelchair can go on. It's like an obstacle course.

"Except there is no prize at the end," Martins quips.

Martins is in her 70s. She had polio as a toddler and has spent the rest of her life wheelchair-bound in Rio de Janeiro.

She says her group, the Center for an Independent Life, has fought street by street to make Rio more accessible. One of her greatest achievements is making one road in Copacabana have wheelchair access to the beach.

Even that didn't last.

"Now they are all filled with holes," she says. "Other works have been done and it turns into something that has nothing to do with accessibility. The streets have been paved over so many times that the manhole covers are at the bottom of these deep craters that are a nightmare for people with disabilities. There is no maintenance."

The city of Rio de Janeiro is hosting the 2016 summer games — but while there has been a lot of hype around the Olympics in Brazil, the country is hosting another event that same year — the Paralympics. The city by the sea will host 4,350 disabled athletes from 176 countries.

I ask Teresa Costa d'Amaral, from IBDD, one of Brazil's main disability advocacy organizations, to grade Rio de Janeiro from one to 10 on how accessible the city is.

Zero she tells me. Zero.

Brazil has some of the best legislation on the issue in the world, she says, but laws don't mean enforcement. She points to the fact that Rio has only one functioning road crossing for the blind. Her group actually has a number of lawsuits against the city to make public transport accessible.

"There is a saying here, 'We won but we didn't get it done,' because nothing has changed," she says.

Part of that has to do with how people with disabilities are viewed in Brazil, she says. A recent poll showed that an overwhelming 80 percent of disabled people in Brazil didn't feel respected as citizens of the country. They have difficulty finding work and simply getting around, she explains.

The organizers of Rio's games say their venues will be ready and up to scratch. But they acknowledge that making the city accessible is a work in progress.

"They are completely right that the city has a lot of challenges for people with disabilities, " says Rio's mayor Eduardo Paes.

The plan right now, which has only just been released and has yet to be implemented, will see only some tourist sites become fully accessible.

"It's not a culture of [the] public sector in Brazil to build things for people with disability," Paes tells NPR. "It's not going to solve our problems but things are gonna get much better for people with disabilities. We have a long way to go. The Olympics are not like a miracle that are gonna solve all the problems of the city. I hope it inspires the city to keep moving on."

Leila Scaf Rodrigues, an architect, hopes so too. Around four years ago, she lost her hands and feet to a bacterial infection. She says the Rio she knew and loved all her life has become a different city to her.

"This isn't a city you want to live in if you have a disability," she says.

She now works to help make public buildings more accessible. That's ironic, she says, because she never used to give much thought to whether or not wheelchair ramps were well-executed.

She isn't sure how much the city will actually improve because of the Paralympics. But she says the real change could come because of the event.

"It will change the culture here, I hope," she says. "Brazilians will see people with disabilities on the streets, see them doing amazing things. And we will learn finally to live together."

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It's hard to think about Yemen in a hopeful way. In fact, the country seems like the very definition of hopelessness.

It's the poorest country in the Middle East. Al-Qaida is on the scene. And Yemen is now in chaos. Internal factions are on the verge of civil war, suicide bombers just blew up two mosques, Saudi Arabia has started bombing the country.

But there is another side to Yemen. Photographer Stephanie Sinclair has visited three times, most recently in 2012. "I think people see it as a very hostile place. I really found the people there to be very, very kind and very welcoming. They have a gentle sweetness."

We spoke with her about her impressions.

Was it hard to work as a woman in such a conservative society?

I get asked that a lot. You know, yes and no. I think that I always find that there are some advantages and some disadvantages working as a woman in a conservative society. I had a lot more access to [photograph] women, for example.

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Gritty in pink: The officers chose the color for this female counter-terrorism unit at a base in Sanaa base. Stephanie Sinclair/ VII hide caption

itoggle caption Stephanie Sinclair/ VII

Gritty in pink: The officers chose the color for this female counter-terrorism unit at a base in Sanaa base.

Stephanie Sinclair/ VII

One of your photos shows women being trained to do counter-terrorism work.

Around 1,500 serve in the police, and counter-terrorism is a big part of what they do. In airports, women can only be patted down by other women.

Even though it's a very conservative society, were there signs of Western influence?

I have found pretty much all over the world there's the influence of Western culture, no matter how remote the country. It might be clothing that's popular globally and exported at very cheap prices. There are influences in music, rap — these different ways. If I remember correctly, Muhammad, one of the boys I photographed, has some family members in the U.S. I made a video of him beatboxing in Yemen.

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Western styles are showing up in conservative Yemen. Stephanie Sinclair / VII hide caption

itoggle caption Stephanie Sinclair / VII

Western styles are showing up in conservative Yemen.

Stephanie Sinclair / VII

When you were there, what was the mood of the country? It was just after the Arab spring.

The tone was fairly optimistic. They were looking forward to a change in leadership, to things getting better. I feel absolutely horrible about what's going on now. I worry for my friends.

The people there are really generous and really want a better life. All of the civilians I spoke with wanted peace, most people just want to be happy. But in all of these wars, so many people are caught in the crossfire.

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The old city of Sanaa is a World Heritage site. Stephanie Sinclair/ VII hide caption

itoggle caption Stephanie Sinclair/ VII

The old city of Sanaa is a World Heritage site.

Stephanie Sinclair/ VII

Any special memories stand out from that last trip?

I photographed girls getting ready for school, wearing white headscarves. That's in the town of Sadah. Six members of their family sleep in the one room that's left of their house, which was pretty much in rubble from the fighting between the government and the Houthis [the Shiite rebels who have been fighting against the government]. The girls were lovely. One of the little girls made a toy house out of Styrofoam and had colored it and she gave it to me as a gift. I still have that.

That's kind of ironic because her family's house had been [practically] destroyed but she gave me this little house.

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Girls in Sadah get ready for school. Stephanie Sinclair / VII hide caption

itoggle caption Stephanie Sinclair / VII

Girls in Sadah get ready for school.

Stephanie Sinclair / VII

I have to ask about qat – the mildly narcotic leaf that Yemenis love to chew.

Chewing qat is part of society. You have to get all the work you need to get done before 11. Then people break for lunch and right after lunch they go get their qat. It's a ritual: They buy the qat, they break the leaves off and make a pile and start chewing. This can happen until the wee hours. The women tend to not chew qat, but almost every man I met chews — and this is a male-dominated society.

It's hard to imagine a qat-chewing country could be in such turmoil.

Well, it's a stimulant.

Did you try it?

Of course I tried it. How could I not? It's such a big part of society and it's legal. It's a way to bond with people in the way that they bond. But I found it bitter. It's not my thing.

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