steve handlesman has our report. >> reporter: gearing up for dinner at boundary stone in d.c. it's a new place. 24 new jobs for cooks and waiters. the boss is excited. >> obviously, a good, healthy national economy is beneficial for big business, small business, any business. so that definitely adds to our optimism. >> reporter: this restaurant is part of a trend. because of hiring by startups and smaller firms, our nation added 120,000 jobs last month. >> it feels like we're starting to get small businesses kicking in. that is so vital to getting the job market moving forward. >> reporter: the unemployment rate, stuck around 9, dropped to 8.6%. president obama celebrated. >> the american economy has now created, in the private sector, jobs for the past 21 months in a row. that's nearly 3 million new jobs in all. >> reporter: but people have given up looking for work and were not counted. republicans still say the president has failed. >> the american people want action on jobs. they want it now. >> reporter: presidents obama and clinton argued today for middle-class tax cuts

from des moines, i'm steve handlesman, nbc news. >> congresswoman gabrielle giffords and other survivors of that deadly shooting in tucson, arizona will mark one year since that tragedy. they'll do that next month. several events will happen on january 8th. there lab communitywide ringing of the bells at 11 after 10 in the morning, the exact moment the shooting occurred. right now it is not clear which events giffords will attend or whether she'll speak. she is still recovering from the shooting that left six other people dead. >> a monumental week for d.c. homicide detectives. investigators have made several arrest, seven actual lirks some date back several years. today an arrest was made for a double murder that happened three and a half years ago on k street in northwest. on tuesday a man was taken into custody for killing bill mitchell, jr. as he walked home from the shakespeare theater in the bloomingdale neighborhood back in january. >> this week's success was due to several factors, primarily due to a lot of hard work that has gone over the last year. some of the cases actually it

i'm steve handlesman, news 4, capitol hill. >>> d.c. mayor vincent gray is in new york today trying to get more tv shows filmed here in the district. the mayor will spend some time courting tv producers. he's proposed a tax on movie theater concessions as a way to help build a film incentives fund. in the past, some industry officials have said it's too difficult to film here between capitol hill, the national park service, and the district. movie makers have to work with three different agencies to just get the permits. >>> metro will start using new mobile patrols to crack down on crime in garages starting next week. you might see a metro transit employee on one of these. it's an enclosed golf cart, also known as a gator. metro workers and police will use these vehicles to patrol different stations. they're going to be monitoring parking areas for suspicious or illegal behavior. >> if you plan on riding the metro this weekend, give yourself plenty of extra time. six stations on the red line will be closed for repairs. they'll all clos