reporter: lester, that s right the president went straight to that positive headline, touting the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% from 4.2% last month, saying the drop in the last year is the biggest in history. but the disappointing headline today, the economy only added 199,000 jobs, just half of what economists were expecting. it is a low figure for the second month in a row now and it comes amid soaring inflation at a nearly 40-year high republicans are blaming mr. biden s spending policies for the higher inflation today the president firing back, calling those claims, quote, malarky. economists warn today disappointing jobs figures came prior to much of the omicron surge, so there could be more volatility ahead. lester kristin welker, thank you. late today, the three men convicted of murdering ahmaud arbery were sentenced to life in prison. the judge saying arbery left his home to go for a run and ended up running for his life catie beck reports tonight. reporter: the fathe
yourself as a colored man. i think of myself as a man. reporter: in 2009, he received the presidential medal of freedom from president obama, who today wrote that poitier epitomized dignity and grace. revealing the power of movies to bring us closer together. from viola davis, no words can describe how your work radically shifted my life. that work helped tear down racial barriers as poitier noted after receiving a lifetime achievement offer. not because i brought so much, but because the time was right. circumstances were right. that time has come. reporter: the right man for his time joe fryer, nbc news. to say with love. what a career. what a life. that s nightly news. thank you for watching, everyone i m lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night
their days behind the bars. a young man with dreams was gunned down in this community. reporter: judge timothy wamsley calling it accountability for greg and son travis mcmichael, a sentence of life without parole and for neighbor william bryant, a life sentence with the possibility of parole. the decision after hours of testimony ahmaud arbery s parents describing broken hearts that will never heal. son, i love you as much today as i did the day that you were born. reporter: attorneys for the defendants calling life without parole a punishment too severe. nothing in travis mcmichael s life suggests that he s a danger to society now or will be a danger to society 30 years from now. reporter: in the end, judge wamsley pointed to the mcmichaels lack of remorse, even pausing to reflect on ahmad s final moments. the 25-year-old was out for a jog when he was chased, shot and killed the judge noted bryan