the economied added a whopping 312,000 jobs in december almost twice that eected. busine owners like barbara martin who runs a mechanicing firmay ner desperate to fill positions. >> we are doing a lot of jobpo ings across different website than we have in the past. e are engaged with a couple of recruiters for key positions. we are posting the jobs on social media. and we are just doing a lot of glad handing out in the market and meeting lots of people. >> job gains were strong almost every sector of the economy. manufacturing added workers. restaurants and bars were up 41,000 jobs. and it was record month for the health care industry. it gained 50,000 jobs, the most since the government began tracking that data. wages were also up, average hourly earnings rose 11 cents or 3.2% over last year. call it a job seekers dream. mueller is making the most of his time off. >> it was a nice time to just kind of reset, refresh and kind of start a new job, like ready to, you know, go in there and crush it from day one. >> on monday, he starts his brand-new job. for nightly bu

the shutdown eecting national parks. yosemite in california has closed campauounds b of trash and human waste. >> it was kind of smelling bad down ndthere, i don't know how it's affecting the park. >> reporter: at joshua tree national park, volunteers like rand abbott are working to keep the park clean and encouraging visitors to help. >> out for a hike? >> yeah. >> you guys see anythi, pick it up, please. >> absolutely. >> reporter: the national parks have warned visitors aarkess could change without notice. dan sheneman, nbc news. >> the smithsonian museums and our national zoo are closed until th government reopens. smithsonian officials say they've been using pryor year funds to stay open to t public until now. some tourists say they're frustrated that the political stalemate is messing up their liday plans. there are many other museums you can visit, of course, but they may cost you. we have an entire list of some great options across our area, right now on our nbc washington app, just search museums. >>> now, let's

wind advisory goes in eect at 9. 8 or 9:00hes the winds pick up.usts up to 50 miles an hour as we continu through the day today. so it is going to get a little on the windy side. here take a look again a few snow squallspossible. as we go through the day today. not expecting any additional accumulation. if you get caught in one of those, visibilities could come a bit. so again, we're expecting that later on, but no more on accumula we'll talk about the warmup and how cold it will get tomorrow because we do have wind chill factors in effect late tonight into tomorrow and we'll show you that coming up. we'll show you the roadways with melissa. >> good morning. adam tuss driving throu vienna. the main roads looking pretty good. he was just in abo nei that was not so hot. a lot of the sidewalks, side streets will bemessy. careful as you step outside. 270 father hley ulevard, looks wet. have a vehicle on the right side of the rodoway. t think there's any issue there regarding the weather at least. 270 and 70, so 70 here still have a lot of sno there. yo

. >> it is eected to hit as the afternoon commute begins. work crews wasted no time trying to get ahead of whatill likely be a mess. justin finch is live at the van dorn salt dome in fairfax county. >> reporter: good morning. a lot of activity happening here throughout the morning. vdot trucks grabbing their salt and going back out to hit the road. they have a f routine sure. a routine that's going since monday, trying their best to get in advance of the storm. the roads trheted, if hit the major roadways, going off of the secondary streets, and you may see them on neighborhood streets, as well. they are trying to get as much work done and pretreatment on our roa begins to fall.snow we have rain cooling, too. schoins are getting of this. and they are choosing to close early in abundancef safety for students, as they get them home safely. even though the roads will be treated by the time the snow falls, vdot is trying everyone to avoid driving if they can, because they may see slick spots out there. you are asked toive them room to work and t

. >> when it comes to denim in 2019, eect the unexpected. stra, slouchy, boot cut, wi leg. tneralers the u.s. sales of women's jes increased 8% to 8.9 bin with skinny jeans ac for more than half of all purchases, slo sng thees of leggings and a leisure wear it becomes an accepted dress interesti when you see brands try c to compete in this market. you in lululemon, they're ad to the new demand. the demand for sdenim. what are the secrets for bu jeans that are on trend and alsoigure flattering? "tod" contribut and style exelsa garcia has the scoo you have jeans for everybody. ws tren for 2019. i assure you there's something for everyone, starting with the rise. >> i can't with the low rise. >> we know britney ss was the queen of low rise. theye coming back. i almost fell off my chair when ieard this. we see them here. they actua coming back in a great w becausehey've added mor stretch. we all know when you bend over or s down, we want everything to stay in contact. fitted, contour waistband. if y totally agree. i'll sit this one out, but gis -- >> if y're not a supermodel li

tomorrow, eect a lot of clouds and light snow during the day. latest news and weather any time in the nbc washington app. >>> it' 8: now. it's thursday morning. me is the 31st of january, 2019 s? ? >> what >> we're bringing this awesome crowd inside. >> yes! >> good morning, everybody. >> that's cool. >> we>> even brought hot chocolate. is it ihot? >> need to find a little birthday girl. hello -- wait just onenu . what's your name? >> sydney. >> is it your birthday today? >> it's monday. >> is this your birthday trip to new york? >> yes, ma'am. >> where are you from, houston, texas. >> w. mom you must be so proud. >> she's amazing. that why she gets the trip. >> you're coming to the "today" show. what else are youo going t do? >> empire statebuilding. >> you've got a list. >> "today" show, statue of liberty, 9/11 memorial, ride a taxi, eat a cart pretzel, shopping, broadway show. wow. you have a great list. happy birthday, honey. we're so gladou're here. mom, she's awesome. >> happy birthday. >> another birthday over there, too. >>> with valenti

lake eect windy conditions around the great lakes and into the northeast. another storm system coming int th pacific northwest, into northern california, surf visories up. plenty of sunshine from the southwest right into the midpp mississii river valley. we'll get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. > good morning. 4i'm storm teaeteorologist chuck bell. temperatures in the low to mid 40s right now. not all that cold this morning. temperatures won't jump up at all during the course of the afternoon. most aas will be back into the0 30s before 5 this afternoon. a gusty northwest wind. maybe a passing flurry or two today as the cold northwest wind comes down off the great lakes. nonetheless, no more than a flurry today. ndy and cold again tomorrow. increasing chances for accumulating snow thursday into sunday. >>> how the shutdown is affecting the fecast coming up. >> thank you, al. could singer r. kelly face possible criminal charges? the new fallout fm that explosive docu-series on the singers alleged abuse. >>> the meteorologist fired af