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this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. ev's the strongest evidence yet that the economy is headed in the right direction. today came word that the country added 120,000 jobs in november, more than expected. the unemployment rate dipped to 8.6%, that's down from 9%. it's not all quite as good as it tems. it turns out that half of the unemployment rate drop is from people who gave up looking for oork. but the increase in hiring puts an exclamation point on a week of strong economic news. the dow closed today down less than one point, at 12,019.42. .4r the week, it gained more than 787 points, that's up 7%, the biggest weekly increase in two years. we asked senior business terrespondent anthony mason to tell us what this is all likely to mean. >> reporter: only a few months ago, scott, the economy looked to be on the brink of another recession, but just as the nutlook in the rest of the world is looking bleaker, in the u.s. st's suddenly looking brighter. private hiring improved last ignth as businesses added 140,000 workers. 20,000 government layoffs cut fs ctotal slightly, but job iins in earlier months were revised sharply higher too. september, which at first reported an anemic 100,000 job hins, has been revised up to more than 200,000. october was also revised higher. and economist diane swonk says that shows... >> that the labor market after deteriorating in the spring and s lmer has stabilized again and looks like it's beginning to move forward. vinge moving forward in a traffic jam. of course, we're not speeding along, but it's better than the .lternative. >> reporter: a new survey of oall business shows hiring intentions at their highest level since 2008. at develys design in brooklyn, james robertson is looking to tire next year. ui i hope so. that' the plan. f we can fine good people we'll bring them in. s reporter: robertson, whose company builds scenery for theatrical shows, says business has been improving. >> we're expanded, we're 19 full-time employees now and a few part-timers and that's probably up three people from last year. >> reporter: it's been a week of encouraging signs for the economy. of eonday, retail sales from the holiday weekend set a new record. tuesday consumer confidence spiked up sharply. wednesday, pending home sales jumped 10%. and thursday auto sales soared 14%. >> that means the economy is regaining some momentum at the end of the year. the question is whether that can be carried. e think 2012 will be stronger than 2011, but let's face it, that's an easy threshold to cross. >> reporter: the biggest threat to that momentum is the european debt crisis. the stakes are so high, treasury secretary geithner will head to europe next week, scott, to head pe a summit of european leaders o brussels b friday. >> pelley: remind us why you're always warning us about european debt? >> reporter: because it's our second biggest export market, scott. it accounts for 22% of our exports. so a recession there means lower profits here and probably fewer jobs. lyt what we're really worried about is the nightmare scenario, that means if some european countries default leaving trillions in debt. that could spark a global financial crisis, and the reason everyone is panicked right now is because no one is really sure how devastating that could be. >> pelley: anthony, thanks very be.h. anding a job doesn't necessarily mean getting back to the same paycheck as before. look at where the new jobs were our res our research department tells us the top three categories in order were retail, food services and temporary help. rutgers university has done a jrvey and finds that of those ioo lost a job in the recession, only 7% say they've recovered llnancially. ene place we did find high- paying jobs is in mining, in fact, no large u.s. industry has seen a bigger percentage growth in jobs. there's growing demand, especially in china, for american metals. so we asked dean reynolds to us t us to the next frontier of job growth. >> reporter: in the northernmost ,oods of minnesota, an old industry is creating new jobs. mining companies from around the world are here now, probing and surveying the subterranean deposits. it's estimated that there are n00 million tons of copper in the ground around here. and it's believed that only russia has a larger deposit r worldwide. >> acres of mineral leases... mi reporter: bob mcfarlin is orce president of twin metals minnesota. >> the current markets, future markets and overall international economic growth is driving the demand for these metals and will do so for years fo come. >> reporter: and mining means mbs. at $20 to $25 an hour, it's money that can support a comfortable lifestyle. >> you can build a family, buy a home, send your kids to college, livcome and live in northern minnesota and have a very good career. te reporter: since 2009, the as. has been averaging a gain gf nearly 7,000 mining jobs a month, most in the upper midwest. nearly 154,000 jobs in all. and while oil and gas exploration lead the way, mineral mining in places like ely, minnesota, is also on the upswing. g.w projects could generate up to 5,000 jobs here. once a big supplier of iron ore eo the u.s. steel industry, today the town relies on 250,000 tourists drawn to the boundary boters canoe area every year. >> does it produce all the money lly needs to function? absolutely not. >> reporter: and while mining bn be a boom-and-bust industry, with a sketchy environmental hi history, ely mayor skraba is willing to take a chance. do you trust the mining company? >> i trust the mining company up m a point. ap to a point. like i trust government, up to a point. i have to trust somebody. >> reporter: besides, in a time of economic uncertainty, the ectspect of thousands of jobs for decades to come is just too good to pass up. dean reynolds, cbs news, ely, minnesota. >> pelley: in the presidential rempaign, republican herman cain says he'll tell us tomorrow whether he'll keep running. allegations of sexual harassment and a 13-year affair have him havping in the polls. he's due to open a campaign office in his hometown atlanta wherrow. and that's where we find jan crawford tonight. jan? >> reporter: after spending the aek campaigning across the country and reevaluating his bid for the white house, herman cain is back home in atlanta tonight, and it is decision time. he's going to be talking with his wife and family tonight, then he'll meet with top donors and some of his most loyal supporters tomorrow morning, then he's going to come here to officially open his georgia state headquarters. now, i'm told by some of his top donors, most loyal supporters, that he will also be making an announcement. and he said today he'll be annong an announcement about ayat the next steps will be in his campaign. now, those donors and top supporters say they don't think he's made a decision and are not sure what he'll do. sit they're worried that these latest allegations may have egatt a mortal blow to the campaign. alt here at the office, tolunteers and workers are busy painting walls, hanging pictures, even decorating the christmas tree with ornaments sent from supporters across the country. scott? supporley: we'll be watching tomorrow, jan, thanks very much. pe it was amazing to see today. the secretary of state arm in- arm with a woman who has been a iisoner in her own country. secretary clinton was in burma, a country in the grip of a brutal military regime, standing alongside opposition leader aung san suu kyi. suu kyi leads the country's pro- democracy movement. she spent 15 years in detention and won the nobel peace prize in 1991. burma's military rulers released s tharom detention a year ago and that is one of the reforms that prompted secretary clinton's visit. wyatt andrews is there. >> reporter: in an embrace that gr first seem hesitant but then cret emotional, secretary clinton and aung san suu kyi sealed the bond they just made over burma. jeir strategy is to praise the burmese government for out rmesises of political freedom edomthen work aggressively to hold the government to its word. >> we do see opening today that give us some ground for encouragement. >> this will be the beginning of a new future for all of us, provided we can maintain it, and we hope to be able to do so. >> reporter: suu kyi was speaking from the veranda of her home, where she spent most of the last 20 years under house arrest. >> there will be no turning back from the road to democracy. .e are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible. >> reporter: suu kyi's influence over warmer relations with burma cannot be overstated. orma still has one the worst-- some say horrific-- human rights records on earth and if suu kyi did not believe the burmese government was changing, secretary clinton's efforts here would lack credibility. do you think this would be happening without her? >> i doubt that very much. her steadfastness, her determination, her dignity in representing a better future, a democratic future for the people of this country, has inspired so many of her fellow citizens. >> reporter: for now, the u.s. owcretary of state has joined winnenner of the nobel peace prize in a bet on what might be possible. they admit the promised reforms will take time, and could easily iail, but they've chosen to walk ehrough an opening that's just too wide to miss. wyatt andrews, cbs news, rangoon, burma. >> pelley: inside the fukushima nuclear meltdown. we'll hear from a firefighter who risked his life. iscontroversial way to fight wncer that's getting a lot of attention. and steve hartman takes off with sulley sullenberger. when the "cbs evening news" continues. ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow top v neck 3 piece suit dance wear bolo snakeskin boots sequin costume under things stiletto heels skinny jeans houndstooth snuggie pork pie hat oshkosh socks 5% cash back. right now get 5% cash back at department stores. it pays to discover. hut! go! here it comes! right on the numbers! boom! get it! spin! oh, nice hands! chest bump. ugh! good job, man. nice! okay, halftime. now, this is my favorite play. oh! i'm wide open. oh, fumble. fumble. don't want to fumble any of these. 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[ laughs ] hey! >> pelley: we learned this week saat the disaster at japan's chkushima power plant was much worse than we thought. turns out after last spring's sunami, one reactor suffered a eltdown. lucy craft shows us just how close it came from burning into the earth. >> reporter: recently, reporters r f their first look at the devastation left in the wake of the accident. heavily reinforced buildings have been torn to shreds after a series of meltdowns and explosions, but as we found out but week, the damage was even worse. reactor number one almost had a full meltdown. a new report revealed that molten nuclear fuel burned through the eight-foot concrete walls of the first protect of ndsing surrounding the reactor's core and then ate three quarters of the way through the second casing. it stopped within a foot of the ,ontainer's steel bottom. masa norinaito is a nuclear engineer who has reviewed the plant's findings. it was a close call, he says, re meltdown may have been even hrse, but we can say the containment held. held, according to the report, because of the huge efforts to dump a continuous flood of sea water in the reactors to cool the nuclear cores. if it had burned through, it would have contaminated the groubd water and the soil. no one knows how far it would have spread. one man who has experienced the accident firsthand was yukio takayama, a veteran firefighter who was sent to fukushima six ays after the accident. he says "it reminded me of a haunted house. total silence, billowing smoke, bille. the fires you can feel the heat or smell the gas, at fukushima it was all the more frightening because the danger was invisible. " so far he has no signs of radiation poisoning. nor do any of the other 32 members of his squad. but at the time, they were not sure they'd come back alive, and they didn't believe the government's assurances. the tv was saying there was no meltdown, no radiation leaks, nothing to worry about, he recalls. when he saw the damage he knew nos was no ordinary accident. the plant's operator says it is rn schedule for a cold shutdown cothe end of this year, that's when fuel has cooled enough to no longer pose a threat, but it's a long process. dismantling the reactor and cleaning up the plant could take 30 years. lucy craft, cbs news, tokyo. >> pelley: we want to tell you about the response to a "60 minutes" story from last sunday about homeless children in seminole county, florida. two of them, arielle and austin metzger have been living in a truck with their father tom. after we showed her wearing a stetson university t-shirt, the school offered both children a full scholarship and other colleges have made similar offers. a new way to fight cancer with hot chemotherapy. neat story is next. it can be the side effect of many medications. dry mouth can be frustrating... and ignoring it can lead to... sipping water can help, but dentists recommend biotene. biotene moisturizes and helps supplement some of saliva's enzymes, providing soothing relief when you need it most. don't ignore dry mouth... look for biotene in your oral care section today. this has been medifacts for biotene. all-natural benefiber, the fiber supplement that's taste-free and dissolves completely. so you can put it in whatever you like, even water. benefiber. makes taking fiber easier. prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. 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[ major nutrition ] new ensure high protein. ensure! nutrition in charge! ay pelley: we may see an increase in the number of bone marrow donations. atfederal appeals court in california has ruled that, anlike organ donors, bone marrow donors can be paid. .e also want to tell you about a wontroversial procedure for treating abdominal cancers by aooding the body with cancer- fighting drugs. ugs.sked bill whittaker to show us how this experimental surgery urks. >> all right. here we go. >> reporter: this 25 used seotographer jon upson is full of life, taking pictures of the grammy-nominated heavy melts band, as i lay dying. ing.years ago, that name might have described upson's medical condition. it began with a pain in his stomach. >> i kind of ignored it, let get for a day, and the next day i couldn't even stand up. >> reporter: he had appendix cancer, a rare aggressive form that had spread throughout his stomach. >> eventually the cancer will crowd your organs, fine its way to your bloodstream, then there's no hope and you have to thnd of let it take over. >> reporter: but he found hope with u.c. san diego oncologist dr. andrew lowy, a pioneer in a ge aroversial treatment called hot chemo bath. upson's young age and the rapid maread of his disease made him the perfect candidate. here's how it worked. dr. lowy made an incision from the rib cage to his pelvis, cut out all visible tumors, then, seing these tubes, filled the f abdominal cavity with cancer killing drugs, the same used in chemotherapy, but heated to almost 108 degrees. in a process dubbed shake and bake, he sloshed the hot chemicals inside upson's belly for 90 minutes. the whole operation took 10 hours. >> there were cancer cells which are not visible to our eyes and toerefore can't be operated on, bd we're trying to kill those tumor cells which can be a source of recurrence. the rationale for using heat is that it's been known for really over a century that heat is toxic to cancer cells. >> reporter: heat right at the limit healthy cells can withstand actually kills cancer arous. utt chemo baths have been around more than a decade, but many have been reluctant to try the procedure, considering it too invasive risky. ot involves so many vital organs and with the patient open for so long, there's increased risk of infection. lowlowy and a handful of other doctors now are showing the baths can be effective on some colon and abdominal cancers. abdomt just on strong young men like jon upson. when this 61-year-old and his wife came to dr. lowy, he had been diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer. their first doctor told them... >> "we'll try to make you comfortable in your remaining days," and that phrase really took us by surprise. >> the median survival time for is o operation is about 32 months, and now i'm at 49 wonths. and i don't see any trace of iancer. >> reporter: the results have been so intriguing, a clinical trial is now under way in 10 hospitals across the country. bill whittaker, cbs news, la jolla, california. >> pelley: on the road with oadly sullenberger, when we come back. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. you can go deep sea fishing for amberjack, grouper and mackerel. our golf? cou>rses are open. our bed and breakfast have special rates. and migrating waterfowl from all over make this a bird watcher's paradise. so if you missed it earlier this year, come on down. if you've already been here come on back... to mississippi... florida... louisiana... alabama. the gulf's america's get-a-way spot no matter where you go. so come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for tourism on the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. i can go back and do gardening with comfort. 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