>> i think companies have found out that they could get by with a lot fewer people than they ever thought they could. >> susie: the latest snapshot of the labor market is disappointing at best-- just 80,000 jobs were added to payrolls in october. but the unemployment rate falls to its lowest level in half a year. it's "nightly business report" for friday, november 4. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by:

this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. my colleague tom hudson is off tonight. americans see only a modest pickup in hiring in october, that's according to the government's latest snapshot of the job market. employers added 80,000 new jobs last month, less than economists expected. and the unemployment rate slipped to 9% from 9.1%. this is the first drop in the jobless rate since july and it's now at the lowest level since april. still, economists are hardly upbeat about the latest look at the labor picture. suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: with so many people out of work, any new jobs should be encouraging.

the problem is employers aren't creating enough new jobs to make much progress putting the 14 million unemployed americans back to work. yes, payrolls rose by 80,000 in october. that sounds good, but, it's really not when you consider by most estimates 125,000 new adults entered the workforce last month, that's due to population growth, etc. still, economist julia coronado views the october jobs data as neither positive or negative. >> it's kind of in between. it's a little bit more of the same which is okay job growth, not really great, not enough to really give a lot of momentum to the economy. but certainly not a disaster. >> reporter: tig gilliam agrees the labor market is moving sideways. he heads one of the world's leading staffing agencies and says companies have learned to get by with fewer workers. >> it's not that businesses don't want to hire. but, businesses are only going

to hire when it's a necessity. it doesn't matter if corporate profits are good, they're only going to hire when they absolutely have to get the work done, which means they have demand. >> reporter: economists were pleased to learn today about big upward revisions to jobs data in the previous few months. it turns out 102,000 more positions were added to payrolls in august and september than originally reported. the question of course is where does the labor market go from here? most experts predict hiring will continue to be restrained. economist mike moran says at best we should get gradual improvement in the nation's jobless rate in 2012. >> the unemployment rate is likely to continue declining throughout the next year or so, but it's going to be declining at a slow rate. we're probably going to be in the upper 8% area a year from now. we'll move down another few tenths of a percentage point, but it's going to be a very slow adjustment in the labor market. >> reporter: it may be slow going for the next year or so.

but most experts now say the labor market should be strong enough to keep the economy from slipping into recession. suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: on wall street, stocks fell on that lukewarm jobs report and continued concerns about greece and the european debt crisis. the dow lost 61 points, but was down triple digits earlier in the session. the nasdaq fell about 12 and the s&p slipped almost eight. for the week, the major averages were down, posting their worst weekly performance in a month. the dow lost almost 250 points on the week or 2%. the nasdaq suffered a similar percentage loss, falling 51 points or almost 2%. and the s&p 500 off 31 points or 2.5% on the week. also weighing on the markets: the future of the greek government. tonight, the country's parliament is about to begin a vote of confidence on the leadership of greek prime minister george papandreou. at issue, his handling of a crucial loan package from europe

to pay down greece's debts. as greece's political drama unfolded, the leaders of the world's 20 most powerful countries wrapped up their two- day summit without a grand plan to rescue europe from its debt crisis. president obama says e.u. leaders have a tough challenge. >> events in greece over the past 24 hours have underscored the importance of implementing the plan fully and as quickly as possible. i am confident europe has the capacity to meet this challenge. having heard from our european partners over the past several days, i am confident that europe has the capacity to meet this challenge. >> susie: joining us now for more analysis on the debt crisis in europe and that u.s. jobs report, mohamed el-erian. he's the c.e.o. of pimco. >> thank you, susie. >> susie: so this vote in greece still has not begun but whichever way it goes, mohammed, does it matter for us here in the u.s.? >> we per se doesn't-- ° per

se doesn't but what matter is the well-being of europe. and° is undermining that. think of an infection in your toe, if you leave ton treated, if you don't diagnose it properly, next thing you know your leg sin effected, next thing you know your vital organs are infected. and right now greece has threatened italy, has threatened the banks. so greece, per se no, but it's threatening the well-being of europe as a whole. >> you know, every step of the way during this european financial crisis you have been disappointed of the way that european officials have been handling it. what would you like to see happen. >> the mind-set, the realization that this is about solvency and liquidity. that this is about structural change and not cyclical change. for some reason the europeans are having tremendous difficulty getting to the right mind-set. and that's complicated by the governance. they need 17 governments to agree which is not easy. and now we have the internal

politics you just cited, greece, italy also, starting to conflict with the regional reality. so it's a whole mess, susie, that needs bold leadership. and so far europe hasn't shown that. >> susie: now you've just come back from europe. i know you have been in france and in germany and speaking with some of the principleses there. do you think europe will do the right thing and solve this mess as you future? >> i think eventually they will. i think the realization is growing, that they have a major crisis on their hands. so i think they will get to the right answer but it's to the going to be immediately. it's going to be a very bumpy kproo process. there will be collateral damage an unintended consequences. so we've got to navigate that as a society. we've got to be generally defensive and cautious because it will take time for europe to sort itself out. >> let's talk a little bit about the situation in the u.s. economy and today's jobs report. what was your take on that,

those october numbers? >> consistent with what you said in the beginning. modest growth but not enough to get us out of unemployment crisis. so think of the concept of speed, a plane t needs to go fast enough. not just it needs to go fast but it needs to go fast enough to make sustainable programs. and we need more than 80,000 jobs. we need 150, 200,000 jobs in order to have a breakthrough in our unemployment crisis. >> susie: and so that probably explains why this week the federal reserve cut its forecast for economic growth. and so it looks like it will be another year of very weak growth. is that what you are seeing? >> yeah, i mean we coined it two years ago the new normal. the bumpy journey to the new normal which would characterize a sluggish growth, persistently high unemployment, and recurring balance-sheet issues. now we can change that. if washington d.c. comes to

grip with structural issues. you know, we are facing structural problems and structural problems require structural solutions. so it's not as if this is god given. we can change the outcome but it requires some consistent and comprehensive policymaking out of washington. >> susie: real quick question, the last couple of times you've been on the program you said you have been putting pimco port pots more into cash. are you still in cash. has anything changed? >> so we are genuinely defensive and selectively offensive. againly defensive-- generally defensive because of europe, the uncertainties in the u.s. but selectively offensive because there are some good companies, out there that have good balance sheet, are exposed to the areas of growth in the global economy and are immune to erratic policymaking. so generally defensive but selectively offensive. >> susie: unfortunately we have to leave it there, thank you so much for coming on the program.

we always appreciate you coming here. >> thank you. >> susie: and we've been speaking with mohamed el-erian, c.e.o. of pimco. >> one of the things that i had to really think about for a career change was what i could get into that would not disappear on me. >> susie: still ahead, a displaced worker finds new opportunities in a new field. his story in tonight's "you're hired." it's not just adults watching the unemployment rate these days, their children are as well. teenagers have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. washington bureau chief darren gersh takes a look at why so many teens are now looking for work. >> reporter: tonight is a big game for tre'von reid with a playoff bid at stake. tre'von is dundalk high school's running back. a senior, he's hoping for a slot at a division 2 school next year. but for now, he's balancing work outs with applying for work.

>> it's been real hard. real hard. because i... i've only worked one time, and that was at burger king. and that didn't last because they cut my hours short all the time. >> reporter: tre'von has applied to more than a dozen places. but with the teenage unemployment rate at 24%, it's not been easy. >> it's just me, my mother and my sister really, and its tough on my mother because she works a lot and she needs help with my little sister and i have responsibilities of my own. as far as prom and things i have to do outside of school, and... and i do really, really have to get a job. >> reporter: teenagers have always wanted to get a first job to save up the money for prom or maybe a first car. but now we're seeing something different. teenagers who need to work to help their families pay the bills. >> reporter: principal tom shouldice says he sees more kids coming to school after working a night shift. that means kids who aren't able to do their homework or who are so tired they fall asleep at their desks.

>> we hear all about the 9.5%, or 9% unemployment. we look at our own students and they're not factored into that. what's not factored in is the need for some of our students to help support the family survive economically. >> reporter: in a tough job at the bull pen, general manager ryan kaskel says young people used to fill almost all the jobs here. but that's changed. >> a guy that graduated from college and also has a degree with-- who can work on motorcycles is slicing pit beef for us here now. and that's a job a kid could have had, three or four years ago for sure. >> reporter: dundalk high is helping students develop work experience through career programs. but paid internships have now been replaced with volunteer work. school-to-career chairman nancy cassell says if employers don't

hire teenagers now, the next generation won't be ready to work. >> so i think it's important that businesses decide to hire our students, so that they can help them learn the entry-level skills and that as they develop a higher skill set, they'll be more valuable employees. >> reporter: but that's the future. students like marizath segovia need work now. >> my mother's a single parent, so i need money to help the baby, my mother, the bills, the food, so, nothing is free in this world. >> reporter: a tough lesson the great recession is teaching more and more high school students every day. darren gersh, dundalk, maryland. >> susie: it was another choppy day as investors stayed glued to headlines from europe. let's take a look in tonight's market focus. there was more red than green here at the big board.

at the outset dow stocks fell below 12,000 as more uncertainty out of europe triggered another round of selling. the declines came in spite of today's employment numbers, even though they were encouraging, investors were on the defensive. groupon was the talk of the day. the daily deals website made its trading debut on the nasdaq at $20 a share and surged from there. shares closed at $26.11-- a 31% gain for the day. groupon is valued at almost $13 billion. the company is the largest i.p.o. by a u.s. internet firm since came public google in 2004. still, greencrest capital research analyst a.b. mendez says groupon is not for everyone. >> groupon has a lot of potential upside. it's also a risky investment in that it's a relatively new and unproven model from the standpoint of cash flow generation. we're positive, but investors should be cautious with risky names like social media and social commerce companies. >> susie: financial stocks were the laggards today.

bank of america was the dow's biggest loser. shares sank after it revealed plans to swap $400 million common shares to preferred. the move may soothe regulators who are receptive to the cash cushion given the mortgage mess facing the bank. but investors don't like earnings dilution. as a result, b. of a. shares fell more than 6%. one financial bucking the trend: genworth financial. it was the best performer in the s&p 500. investors applauded yesterday's earnings report which showed a sharp drop in mortgage insurance losses. shares rose nearly 17% after the company announced plans to take its australian mortgage insurance unit public next spring. at the other end of the spectrum: chesapeake energy. it was the s%p's worst performer on new concerns about its growing debt load. shares dropped nearly 7% on twice its average daily volume. investors reacted to the company's soaring cost to secure deals. the golden arches are particularly shiny tonight.

shares of mcdonald's are trading at an all time high. they rose less than 1%. but mcdonald's was still it was the best performer among just a handful of gainers for the dow. from frappes to frappacinos, shares of starbucks percolated to a 52-week high. quarterly profits at the coffee giant rose 29 percent. this week, starbucks began selling its own coffee and tazo tea for green mountain single serve machines. that's expected to boost earnings for sbux between three and five cents per share next year. shares in each company spiked at least 5%. and finally, shares of inhibitex, more than doubled on promising mid-stage stage trials of its hepatitis-c drug. shares in the small biotech firm closed at $8.54 a share. that's a spike of nearly 116%. volume exploded to nearly 30 million shares from its normal average of about 600,000 shares. shares in pharmasset and idenex fell on the news. both firms have similar treatments in the pipeline.

a difficult end to a disastrous week for m.f. global. ceo john corzine resigned today, just four days after the brokerage firm filed for brankruptcy. in a statement, corzine said quote, "i feel great sadness for what has transpired at m.f. global and the impact it has had on the firm's clients, employees and many others." the former new jersey governor has also retained legal counsel and says he will help the company respond to regulator questions. corzine will not take any severance pay. his contract called for an estimated $12 million payout. here's what we're watching for next week: our friday market monitor is eugene peroni. he's portfolio manager at advisor's asset management. it's another busy week for quarterly earnings: cisco systems, general motors, macy's, toyota and walt disney are scheduled to report. monday, suggestions for the supercommittee and what it needs to do to solve the nation's budget deficit problem.

>> susie: tomorrow's expected to be a big day for the nation's credit unions as thousands of americans have pledged to move their money on what's being called "bank transfer day." the online movement took hold on facebook after bank of america and other big banks announced plans to levy a monthly fee for debit card purchases. los angeles entrepreneur kristen christian led the charge. i thought maybe 200 would join in actuality. 77,000 people have responded. >> susie: christian calls it a success already and the national association of federal credit unions agrees. its website has been flooded with people seeking information on bank alternatives, noting a 700% jump in web traffic over the past month.

>> susie: our market monitor guest says he's optimistic that the u.s. stock market will end the year higher and rally into next year. joining us now, mark skousen. he's editor of the market letter "forecasts and strategies." >> glad to be with you, susie. >> susie: let's talk first about your outlook for the market. are you upbeat even though

today was not a good day. tell us why. >> well, it wasn't good. and the unemployment rate demonstrates once again the headwinds that this country is facing, in the obama administration. i want to mention just in particular the material you had on teenage unemployment, i was surprised that nothing was mentioned about the dramatic 40% increase in the federal minimum wage law. and economists have warned over and over again that when you have to charge these huge prices, $7 or so forth for teenagers who are relatively untrained, you're going to have a real problem with unemployment. and among male black teenagers, the unemployment rate is over 50%. and i think it's directly related to the federal minimum wage law. this is a problem that our country faces, is these very serious headwinds with obamacare, federal minimum wage law, all of these burdens are placed on business. >> susie: but are you still positive on the markets in face of all of that.

>> yeah, in face of all of that, because the federal reserve is really the key factor here. and the money supply is growing rapidly. money is flowing into the system. >> susie: okay. >> and that means a higher stock prices, i think, in the next year. >> susie: okay. let's run through your past pects before we get your new recommendations. uranium producer, telephonica, these were all down since you were here, do you still own any of them? >> i think sea grill drill was actually up if you include the dividends. remember they pay a 9% dividend. but camico, you know, and telephonica we were stopped out of when the market fell sharply but we are still in sea drill. it is an explosive situation with offshore drilling. 46% increase, or 46% profit margins. their easternings doubled. so 9% difficult-- dividend and a p-e ratio of under 8 so that is an undervalued

play. >> susie: let's talk about some your new picks. you have enterprise products partners. why are you recommending this is a pipeline company. why do you like it? >> well, pipelines are another very strong growth area, especially in the middle east or middle eastern united states. they are discovering a lot of new natural gas. that going to require more pipelines. and if the republicans take over the three branches of government which is a very real possibility with this unemployment problem, energy pipelines are going to be an explosive area. and what i like about enterprise is they have a rising dividend policy every quarter since 1999, 5.5% dividend. >> susie: let's talk about american eagle outfitters, a teen retail clothing store, why do you like this one. >> they've gone through a turn around and a downsizing and they are coming out strongly, doubled their profits in the last earnings

report. they beat expectations and insiders are buying this stock very heavily. i think that's-- this is a consumer area that could go very well as we enter into the holiday season. >> all right. just to where things up quickly, it seems like you like value plays that pay good dividends, right? >> that's correct. especially undervalued plays and in the growth areas. and i think energy is one of those areas. >> susie: all right. any disclosures, mark, dow own any of these stocks. >> i own enterprise products and i own sea drill. >> susie: thanks so much. a lot of interesting things to think about. >> thank you. >> susie: our market monitor mark skousen of forecast and strategy. and now back to our top story jobs. the recession has left many middle-aged americans jobless for the first time in their adult lives. for some, the only path back to full time employment is learning a new field. in tonight's "you're hired," we meet one man who found professional fulfillment and job security years after getting

pink slipped. >> my name is gary kane. i'm 52 years old. i repair and install heating and air conditioning systems for commercial buildings and residential. i was a data communications manager for large corporations. what happened was we were outsourced. one of the things that i had to really think about for a career change was what i could get into one that would not disappear on me or outsourced. and so i went to harpter college and retrained in heating and air conditioning. heating and air conditioning kind of came naturally to me. i have an electrical background. i have a trouble shooting background. i've done repair work. i've come back to harper and what i'm doing is working with

the students to tell them about real life experiences out in the field that you're going to run into. there's a lot of satisfaction involved in walking in an fixing a problem for somebody, being fair, being honest about doing it. it's turned out to be a very good adventure for me. >> susie: that's nightly business report for friday, november 4. i'm susie gharib. have a great weekend, everyone. we hope to see all of you again next week. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org