captioning sponsored by wpbt >> this is n.b.r. >> tom: good evening, i'm tom hudson. u.s. businesses add 155,000 jobs in december. what's ahead for hiring in 2013? >> susie: i'm susie gharib. better late than never. 11 weeks after hurricane sandy hit the east coast, congress finally signs off on $9 billion in federal aid for storm victims. and the outlook for o.j. florida's orange juice industry has seen some good weather, but a citrus disease threatens to take juice prices higher. >> susie: that and more tonight on "n.b.r."

>> tom: steady as she goes, that's the latest word on the s companies kept up a consistent pace of hiring last month. employers added 155,000 new jobs to their payrolls in december. that was slightly less than expected, but close to the amount added in november. the nation's unemployment rate also held sady at 7.8% and the job gains last month were spread throughout the economy. still, there is little optimism hiring will gain much momentum this year. suzanne pratt has the story. >> reporter: 153,000-- that's the average number of jobs the economy created every month of last year. while it's not an awful, it's not impressive, either. and, for the millions of americans still out of work, the job market remains downright depressing. >> 150,000, it's moderate, it's not strong enough given the size of the hole that we're digging out of with respect to

unemployment. >> reporter: the worry now is what wrangling in washington over spending cuts and the debt ceiling will mean for hiring. companies continued adding jobs even with the uncertainty over the fiscal cliff. and, many economists believe firms will increase payrolls this year in spite of the debt ceiling debate. >> i don't think that the spending cuts will be as significant headwinds for the u.s. economy because these spending cuts armade over ten- year period. there won't be a significant amount of spending cuts that will take place in 2013, so that's why i think it's less of an issue. >> reporter: still, there's ample concern about what the expiration of the payroll tax cut will mean for spending and ultimately hiring. don't forget all americans will see a smaller paycheck this year, because of that change. >> consumers aren't well poised to absorb a 2% tax increase and nonetheless that's what's going to happen, and it's going to keep us stuck in this slow growth territory. >> reporter: and, slow economic

growth makes companies less confident about dding new workers. as a result, it is widely predicted that this year will be another period of only modest hiring. >> my expectation is that we'll probably see more of the same. 150,000, give or take, slight, gradual declines in the unemployment rate over time. it's hard to see what's going to provide an accelerator or really tip the job market into the negative either. >> reporter: so, 150,000 new jobs a month for yet another year may not be reason to celebrate. but, clearly it suggest remarkable stability in the nation's labor market. suzanne pratt, "n.b.r.," new york. >> susie: investors were reassured to see stability in the job market and stocks edged up today. also encouraging investors: a report showing the services sector grew at its best pace in almost a year. the institute of supply management's non-manufacturing index, which tracks the sector, rose to a reading of 56.1 in december.

that's its highest point since february. the dow rose almost 44 points, the nasdaq added one point, while the s&p was up seven. for the holiday srten trading week, the nasdaq was the big winner, up almost 5%, the s&p rose 4.6% and the dow rounding out the gains, up almost 4%. >> i'm erika miller in new york, 2012 was a big year for jamba juice as it returned to profitability. we'll talk to the man behind the turnaround-- c.e.o. james white. >> susie: some relief from congress is finally on its way for victims of super-storm sandy. lawmakers approved today $9.7- billion of disaster aid, after harsh criticism of house leaders for delaying the funding. ruben ramirez has details. >> reporter: the political wrangling was contentious over federal funds to aid home and business owners flooded by superstorm sandy. the final vote in the house: 354 to 67 with all 67 of the no

votes coming from republicans. the money will go toward the national flood insurance program which is set to run out of money this monday. it will help the agency pay about 115,000 pending claims. a big complaint: the amount of time it took congress to act. it took just 12 days after hurricane ike and only ten days after hurricane katrina hit for federal aid to be approved. the remaining $51 billion states have requested will likely come up for a vote on january 15. here in new york more than 250,000 businesses were affected by the storm. some of those are here in the financial district on manhattan's southern tip, at least a dozen office towers are still closed and thousands of workers still displaced. ruben ramirez, "n.b.r.," new york.

>> susie: entitlement reform is the popular phrase in washington. many lawmakers are calling for spending cuts in entitlements like social security, medicare and medicaid. they make up more than half the federal budget and that is expected to skyrocket in next few decades, mostly because of health care costs. as congress gears up for the next round of budget negotiations, there will be intense debates about reforming those entitlement programs. sylvia hall reports. >> reporter: 70 million baby boomers are set to join medicare in the next 20 years. that will add to the strain the program is expected to put on the nation's finances... >> the fastest growing part- major part othe budget, is the medicare program.

and it's growing even faster than interest on the debt. >> reporter: many of the nation's leaders want this year to be the year the system starts to change. although they may not agree on much, there are a few ideas with bipartisan support. >> i think both sides agree, higher earners should pay a little more in medicare premiums. i think both sides agree there are places where we're overpaying providers and we can- places where we can reform the payment system so there's more delivery based on quality rather than quantity of care. i think both sides agree we c find a way to reform our cost- sharing system so seniors have more protection for catastrophic costs but have some skin in the game at low cost. >> reporter: one of the ideas on the table now is raising the medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. budget hawks support the change, but the public doesn't and it isn't expected to happen in this round of negotiations. another idea, beefing up administration to cut down on fraud and abuse. but this one isn't perfect either. it carries initial costs and doesn't do much to change the system. bigger reforms will take much longer. >> if you want changes in

dicare, changes in medicaid, chang in socialecury, tt really change the program, it's going to take all year to do it. so i think we could get some agreements early on, and i think it's going to be a long, difficult year where the details will be worked out and the final legislation, i think will be december. >> reporter: but many experts say the only way to really ease medicare costs is to change the entire health care system and not just one federal program. >> nothing is going to bring down the cost of health care in the united states. the cost of health care is going to keep going up. it's going to go up because we're getting older, and as we get older we use more health care, and its going to go up because science is keeping on producing wonderful new things that physicians and hospitals can do. and they cost money. what we can do is eliminate the needlessly expensive way in which we now provide health care. >> reporter: as we saw with the fiscal cliff, it often takes a firm deadline to get something done in congress. major entitlements like social

security and medicaid, the problem is gradual. it is a slope not a cliff and that could make it even harder to get something done. sylvia hall, "n.b.r.," washington. >> tom: florida's warm and sunny winter weather is good news for orange juice drinkers. good growing weather has pushed down the price of orange juice futures. they're trading close to their lowest price since november. prices have dropped 20% in less than a month as worries over citrus greening have faded. but concerns about that disease, continue in florida's orange groves. allison worrell reports.

>> reporter: florida is home to more than half of u.s. citrus production, but the disease citrus greening is casting a dark cloud over the future of the state's industry. while it doesn't hurt people or animals, and the fruit is safe to eat, it can stunt the growth of trees,imiting harvests. citrus greening was first confirmed in florida in 2005 and believed to have come from china. florida grower travis murphy has been in the industry for more than 30 years. >> it's a huge impact to our economy, i use to have about 850,000 acres of citrus in florida, we're now down around 530, 530,000 acres. not just because of greening, canker and economic stress. citrus greening problem isn't just an issue in the sunshine state, it's a problem for growers around the world. >> reporter: that means countries like south africa, brazil and china. >> everywhere there are major growers, they're experiencing this disease. >> reporter: jeff schorner owns al's family farms in fort pierce, florida.

it's a popular tourist stop, the bulk of his business is shipping boxed fruit and gift baskets to customers in the u.s. >> when i was starting out growers that were spending $400 or $500 an acre were spending a lot on their groves now your trees would be dead if you spend $400 or $500 per acre within a year or two, it's not uncommon now for growers to be spending $1,800 to $2,200 to $2,500 for that same acre of trees. >> reporter: that means shrinking profit margins, but schorner says growers are hesitant to pass that cost on to consumers. >> overall, o.j. probably had the second worst year of any commodity next to coffee and the reason we're seeing that is because orange juice is one of those commodities that can be replaced by the end user, something else can be substituted, maybe a cheaper form of juice. >> reporter: kerr says some growers won't be able to compete, while others will pass costs on to consumers, sending retail prices higher by as much

as 30% this year. >> if you're a juice lover, it's going mean higher prices in 2013, prices are probably going up and they're going to raise prices even if there aren't a lot of buyers. >> reporter: still florida growers remain optimistic. >> if we keep taking care of our trees, keep planting new trees if we have a tree that succumbs to greening, replace it with a new tree, we've got a good future. >> reporter: in the meantime, research continues looking for a solution to the disease, for this favorite fruit. allison worrell, "n.b.r.," ft. pierce, florida. >> susie: and you can bet that companies like jamba juice are paying close attention to that issue. jamba is coming off a terrific 2012: it's been cutting costs launching new products and expanding outside the u.s. the stock surged more than 75% in the past year. earlier today erika miller spoke with c.e.o. james white and began by asking him what he sees as the biggest threat to jamba juice's positive momentum.

>> we're thrilled with the results we had in 2012. we grew our same-store sales at really the top of our industry. we had eight consecutive quarters, growth over the last two years as we completed the turnaround of the country. we'll restore the company to profitability in 2012, which we're really excited about. >> reporter: as you know, mcdonald's is now selling smoothies and starbucks has gotten aggressively into the premium juice business. how coyou plan to fend off those comp pettative threats? >> the compittors actually expanded, we think, the awareness of the importance of better-for-you and good-for-you products. we are coming off growth in the face of mcdonald's entering the marketplace three years ago, and all the various entries in the juice and sheathe space in starbucks. we believe the competition makes

us better. >> reporter: as part of your turnaround strategy, you're now relying on franchising as opposed to opening more company-opened stores. why go that route? >> for us, we believe a core start of the strength of our management team is in the product innovation and brand building and we've added great partners from a franchising perspective, which allows us to accelerate our growth. >> reporter: tra(xionally jamba is a very seasonal business and i know you want to change that. how are those efforts paying off? >> we focused diversifying our overall business models in three ways. international has countered seasonal fects. our jamba in schools is counter-seasonal. if you think about the peak periods for schools, it's going to be the period leading up to back to school and this time of the year is the second back to school, so that's another seasonal play for the business. and really the final as it

relates to our core business, we've added food products like our oatmeal, which is a more habitual item. >> reporter: as you know eening is a threat to the industry. are you worried what that could do to price prices and your profit margin. >> what we source globally, all the fruits and ve vegetables we've been at it for a long time. >> reporter: jamba juice hopes to become a healthy lifestyle brand. what will jamba juice look like three years from now? >> we'll be global in terms of size and scale. you'll find more better-for-you options for the whole family. you'll see us available in schools so young people have healthier options that they'll actually consume. >> reporter: james white, thank you so much.

>> thank you very much erica for having me. >> here on wall street, tom, it's been a really strong week. i mean, everybody is using specialulativees, very upbeat, positive energy. the markets are hitting new highs in a long time, dow, s & p, nasdaq, as we're reporting up 4%, 5%. so it's a nice start but we have to see what's going to happen the next couple of weeks with earnings coming out, but so far, so good for 2013. >> tom: absolutely, very early on the january barometer looks to be very poozative for folks. how goes january gets the rest of the year is how the barometer holds. stocks failed to get much of a push from the jobs report but prices continued trending higher. the s&p 500 stumbled right out of the gate today but found its footing mid-morning. prices marked time before taking another step higher in the last ur of trading, finishing up a half percent. but the gain was enough to have

the index close at a post- recession high, this is a five year high for the s&p 500. trading volume eased a bit from yesterday's pace on the big board, 650 million shares. it remained steady at 1.7 billion on the nasdaq. nine of the ten major stock sectors registered gains. the financial, materials and energy sectors led the way, moving up by more than 1% each. within the financial sector, it was broad-based buying, including the big banking stocks. j.p. morgan added 1.8%. shares are at their highest price since last sprg. bank of america continues its rally, adding to the big gains it saw last year. this is a 19 month high for b.a.c. asset investment manager federal investors jumped 4.8%. a week ago this stock was around $20 per share. tonight it's $22.55. futures exchange c.m.e. group gained 4.3%. traders think as the bond market

sells off, c.m.e. trading volumes on interest rate futures could be increasing, leading to better profits. and the tennessee-based regional bank first horizon was up 4%. goldman sachs thinks the bank's earnings will be helped by lower foreclosure costs. in the materials sector fertilizer maker mosaic was in focus. shipments to asia slowed down last quarter but the help of an income tax benefit allowed mosaic to report better than expected profits. shares were up 3.3% in reaction, closing at their highest price since september. among the energy stocks seeing higher prices was the biggest one: exxon mobil. d exxon conrmed todayt would be making a big investment to look for oil in canadian waters. exxon will spend $14 billion developing the hebron oil field. that's in the waters off newfoundland and labrador. exxon thinks it can find 700 million barrels of oil under those waters. the project represents another investment in finding oil and natural gas in north america. shares of exxon added a half percent.

production is expected to start in 2017. exxon owns a third of the project, the largest share among its partners. late this year drug maker eli lilly will lose patent protection of its anti- depression drug cymbalta. the medicine is a blockbuster for lilly, but despite losing the exclusive formula, lly still expes profits to gr ths years it wks on its pipeline of new medicines. it was an enthusiastic response today with volume more than doubling as shares rallied 3.7%. lilly expects to file for regulatory approval of five drugs this year. it also repeated its commitment to pay its dividend and stock buyback plan. a trio of consumer-focused stocks had some mixed news. he five most actively td exchange traded products. and that's tonight's market focus.

>> tom: 2013 looks to be a lot like 2012 with the same list of uncertainties for investors and companies. that's how tonight's market monitor is approaching the year. kate warne is investment strategist at edward jones. she joins us from st. louis. kate, happy new year. nice to see you. among those uncertainties -- >> happy new year! >> tom: corporate profits in the year ahead, very slow economic growth not expected to show much corporate profit growth. how do you approach that as an investor? >> as an investor i think you watch for the fact that many companies are able to take very slow, top-line growth or sales growth and convert it into better earnings growth. that means you have to be selective and you have to look for companies that are able to continue cutting costs and doing the things that enable them to show stronger profit growth. >> tom: let's talk about those cost cuts because we saw another month of modest job growth, 155,000 jobs. a lot of costs have been cut in terms of the employment. where are costs left to grow,

and does that show actual sustainability of those profits? >> woman, i think we're going to continue to see job growth pretty similar to what we saw in december. that's good news in the sense jobs continue to grow. it's not such good news for those who are hoping we'd see an acceleration. but that means people have money to spend. consumer spendig continues to be the main driver of the economy, and i think what we're seeing is companies laser focused on how can they do things more productively, how can they lower costs and how can they stay competi in this environment? >> tom: your focus on the consumer has led you to the largest consumer products company out of there, proctor expf gamble, pg the sticker. what do you anticipate out of p.g. this year. >> we're thinking p.g. has basically an opportunity because it's going through a major corporate restructuring. in the past when they've done a resucturing, that's provided a catulous for the stock to do

better. plus they have an attractive dividend and we think good dividend growth going for the. >> tom: concerns at all about the if costs of commodities rising more than their retail prices? >> that's always a concern for a consumer products company. actually, it looks like some of those increases in commodities are moderating, and that could be good news for p.g. as well. >> you're also looking at qua com. it has been able to ride the iphone to great success. in the middle of the 12-month range what do you anticipate from qualcom? >> we think qualcommis going to continue to benefit from the fact many people are moving to smart phones. it doesn't nearly so much what brand they buy, whetheroon iphone or something else because qualcom has patents to go into all of them. we see this as a bay to basically be able to benefit, regardless of which phone consumers are shifting towards. >> tom: it's a consumer

technology story more than a corporate technology story, right? >> yes, it absolutely is. and think that's really important in this environment where there have been dramatic winners and lose theirs technology. we think qualcom is one of the winners and you want to pick your companies carefully in the tech area. it pays a dividend. has really good dividend growth in our view. >> reporter: a.b.t., abbott labs, undergoing its own restructuring at the beginning of the year, splitting off parent of its really focus medical business, pharmacology business, taking a look at a.b.t., what do you like at ab labs? >> we like the fact that the spin-off is compte and what you now isv say faster growing company focused on nutrition obranded patents, on diagnostics and medical cases. it also has a very strong emerging market presence. you mentioned with p. and g.. that's one of the areas we see strong growth a potential for 10% per year in dividend growth. we're looking at this and saying those kinds of corporate

restruck rings historically have led to good stock price performance afterwards and we think that will be the case for abbott. >> tom: kate, do you have any positions in these stocks? >> i do not. no other disclosures. >> tom: warn, our friday market mon, to she's with edward jones. >> susie: next week on "n.b.r.," we kick off "n.b.r.-u.," our partnership with some of the nation's top business schools. on monday, how our obsession with stock prices hurts the economy. you can read the article online at nbr.com, under the "n.b.r.- u." tab. its author vanderbilt's margaret blair joins us. as we start the new year, many people are working on resolutions. and this week, lou's been thinking about priorities. here's author and educator lou heckler. >> 36 years ago, alex haley published his amazing family saga "roots," tracing his ancestry back to people to slave ships from africa. it later became a landmark mini- series on television and caused thousands, maybe millions, of people to start their own roots search.

one of our friends eventually arranged a massive family reunion where he presented each family with a 70-page booklet he had compiled about their history. i was working in commercial television at the time haley did his book tour and he came to our station for an interview. to what do you attribute your exceptional success? the interviewer asked. haley thought for a moment and then said this, "decide what you want. decide what you're willing to give up to get it." do you have sentences in your head that never go away? i do, and none has been more meaningful to me than this one. i've been fortunate. i have had wonderful success in many areas in my life. when i get in trouble, though, is when i try to do too much. i take on task upon task upon task and start thinking there is a big "s" on my chest. superman, you can call me. then i hear haley's voice and am reminded that i can't do everything. i have to prioritize and discard ose things that i simply must give up so i have time and energy and creativity to complete that which is most important. i just wish i didn't have to re-

learn this one so often. i'm lou heckler. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for friday, >> good advice and very difficult advice to follow. that's "nightly business report" for friday, january 4. have a great evening everyone, and a great weekend, too. >> tom: goodnight, susie. we'll see you online at nbr.com and back here monday night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org