And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Brown more people found work in november and more people stopped looking for work. As a result, the number of new jobs came in better than expected today and the rate of unemployment was the lowest since 2008. Newshour economics correspondent paul solman begins our coverage. Reporter washington brightened yesterday when the annual switch was flipped; the White House Christmas tree, relit. And this morning, more holiday cheer, it seemed, in the form of the monthly jobs numbers. 146,000 new jobs were created last month, according to the survey of employers; unemployment dropped again, to 7. 7 , according to the survey of households. Both numbers better than expected in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and fiscal cliff anxiety. So it looks like sandy will not affect the numbers even after revisions. Reporter georgetowns harry holzer, former chief economist for the labor department. In terms of the fiscal cliff, so far we are not seeing any big impact. Reporter not even an impact on retail which, for all the talk of online supplanting bricksandmortar buying, added 53,000 jobs last month much of it holiday hiring, no doubt but a healthy 140,000 overall increase in the past three months. Not all the new numbers were festive, however. Construction shed 20,000 jobs, though perhaps influenced by sandy. Manufacturing dropped 7,000. Grinchier still, job growth in september and october was revised down by 49,000 jobs. And for all the talk of a lower Unemployment Rate, its explanation seemed to be that several hundred thousand more americans stopped looking for work in november and were counted out of the labor force. Again, economist holtzer. This months change was driven completely by the fact some people stopped looking. Last months drop in unemployment really was driven by people becoming employed. The fact the Unemployment Rate has dropped from over 10 over the last two or three years part of that is real job gaining by some people and part of that is people stopping looking for work. Reporter no wonder, then, that the number of unemployed still sat at 12 Million People as december dawned 40 of whom have been jobless for 27 weeks or longer. A serious problem, says holzer. Perhaps one of the most Serious Problems and that has been true for years now through this downturn. Very consistently, 40 to 50 of all the unemployed are long term unemployed. Reporter and those unemployed are especially vulnerable this time of year, this year in particular as the fiscal cliff beckons. For many of the unemployed, the cliff is a clear and present danger. Unless congress and the president act before the times square ball drops, many on Unemployment Insurance will be left to fend for themselves. Thats because federal extensions of those benefits, currently up to 47 additional weeks in some states would suddenly expire. That would make for an exceptionally unhappy holiday for an estimated two million unemployed americans. Brown we take a closer look now at the standoff and stakes involving unemployment benefits. Judith conti is the federal advocacy coordinator for the National Employment law project, a workers rights group. And bill beech heads the center for Data Analysis at the heritage foundation, a conservative think tank. Did welcome to both of you. Thank you. Pick up first judy conti on what we just heard, why is the amount of longterm unemployment so stubbornly high . Whats happening now is were starting to see job creation. Were starting to see less people being laid off and people laid off getting their jobs back more quickly but those without have been out of work for a while are still facing the exact same barriers they face throughout the entire rekoferm. Not the least of which is a sentiment among employers it that if youve been out of work for that long there must be something wrong with you. And therefore the people are more recently unemployed or are currently employed are more attractive candidates. Does that sound right now it sort of feeds on itself i think we need to recognize this is the most severe, this was the slowest recovery. Here is the point of that. You have millions of people whose job skill its are simply not going to bring them back to the market. It play be easier for them to drop out than to stay in. Won people drop out of the labor force they slow the economy. Their productivity is gone, their contributions are no longer there, so this is a different situation were facing today than we faced i really think since the end of the world war ii. Brown before the implication of the fiscal cliff, explain it because different states have different impact. Under normal Economic Times this say program that is governed by state law and administered by the state. And states pay up to 26 weeks of benefits, six months for people who lost jobs through no fault of their own. But if bad Economic Times historically congress has authorized additional levels of benefits. This time it is a program called the emergency Unemployment Compensation system. And there are four different tiers depending on how bad your state Unemployment Rate is every state gets 14 weeks. Nine states get up to 47 a decisional weeks. And the rest are in betweenment but you have to be over 9 to get that additional 47 weeks. Brown so it is this program that is now caught up in the fiscal cliff negotiations. Right. And its unique this time around. This particular end of the month is a clearcuttoff time. We have. Brown in the past it was phased out. Right. And as harry said in your piece pointed out this is really the worst time of the year for this to happen. So what we need to do now is not just say oh lets just extend them. I think everyone thinks Something Like that has to happen. And it needs to be for a period of time that will be humane for the millions of people unemployed. We still have a very high Unemployment Rate. I think its time now to do some experiments. How do we combine the extensions with mandatory training to make sure that people are skilled up when they reenter the labor force and dont take this bad decision, in my view, of simply dropping out bdz why do you think we need to do those experiments now rather than just continue or extend. Well, this is the time to do it. Congress is focused on extension. Lets focus them also on changing the program subtlyment i think maybe judy and i may agree that some experiment kos happen. Were talking experiments tox see whether or not you could say all right, you want to get an extension. Well give you the extension if you will participate in this is a Online Training program. Learn to type. Change your skill set. You really have to do Something Like that because they cant find work because their skills have been usurped theyve been out so long. Before i ask, who pays for that. It will be paid by the private sector, by the public sector. There are ways to structure this. You are talking 30 billion anyway. And you know, we need to understand, the key to the economy is the labor force. It isnt the capital structure. That comes second. Lets tend to it closely. What do you think about an experiment leak that, requiring training in exchange for extending benefits with. There are certainly longterm worker was could benefit from training. Unfortunately weve seen over the last few years is the public funds for training has been slashed and burned at every turn. So while it is a big talking point that workers need training, there is less money for it. The fact of the matter is there are plenty of workers out there that have all the marketable skills they need. Perhaps their job search has been part of the problem that kept them unemployed for so long. So they would propose we also focus on people from the moment they get unemployed and give them high quality Reemployment Services where they get targeted help with resumes, with job search, with the public job matching function where Workforce Development professionals will network an employer with an open job with a worker who has those skills. Which is the way the Employment Services used to function. So thats one of the other things. Brown you are thinking of that as an experiment but in the meantime youre pushing for the extension. I mean what should happen as of december 31st. As of december 31st we think the program should be reauthorized as it is today. The measures of longterm unemployment have not changed at all since congress reauthorized this program. So we want it to stay the same and make sure that family its have that income support so they can stay attached to the workforce, so they can stay out of poverty and hopefully get back into this system, back into working as quickly as possible. Brown i know you want to experiment but are you also for extending. You cant go back to 14 weeks. And 26 weeks is probably going to be insufficient. But lets keep in mind that we would extend for humanitarian purposes. The economic evidence is fairly clear that extensions well beyond that 26 weeks adds to the period of time that people are unemployed. There is about a 5 increase in that because the incentive isnt there to get back to work. Brown you argued that before. I argue it every time i talk to you. Brown yes, that it is a disincentive to find work. Exactly. And the evidence is coming from alan krueger, he is the counsel of economic advisors. Mark zandi, and many other economists, that we have to keep that in mind. That is to the a reason not to extend but a reason to say how far should the extension go. Heres what i think. We should extend and the extension should be tied to some creative way of infusing new skills in people without have particularly the 5. 5 million who have been out for that 40 weeks. You know, they are he going to have a hard time getting back in. Here is my final point on this, maybe not my final point, of. Brown we will decide. The Unemployment Rate fell this time by 2 10 of a percent. Everybody is happy about that. It fell because we lost 350,000 workers out of the labor force. But do you buy the disincentive arguments or do you think things have changed in this economy . I any its different. First of all when you look at those studies it shows a fairly negligentable impact,. 4,. 5 on unemployment. And a study done by professor rossteen at the University California berkeley last year demonstrated that at least half of that is because Unemployment Insurance keeps people attached to the job search and attached to the workforce, which we want. 9 Heldrich Center out of rutgers did a study as well around this time last year showing that workers who are unemployed who are receiving unemployment do more job search activities than those who dont get benefits and are willing to settle for lower paying jobs than those who are not getting benefits. Brown a final last word. Certainly true, in the first few weeks of unemployment. Are you out there, injure job skills are refresh, are you used to getting up and getting to, without. The long their goes on, the less you are doing all of those things. And now the structural problem is this. We have a huge body of people who have been out of the labor force so long that their skills are really we need to attend to this difference. So extending unemployment for humanitarian purposes, we probably should do that. But change the system so we have training involved. Bill beech and judy conti, thank you. Thank you. Woodruff still to come on the newshour the Supreme Court takes up same sex marriage; shellfish threatened by Rising Carbon Dioxide levels; shields and brooks and history in 140 characters or less. But first, the other news of the day. Heres Hari Sreenivasan. Sreenivasan washington went into the weekend, still stalemated over how to avoid automatic tax hikes and spending cuts, come january. House Speaker John Boehner did speak by phone to president obama this week, and it was widely reported the two have agreed to negotiate directly with each other. But boehner said today, theres no progress to report. Four days ago, we offered a serious proposal based on testimony of president clintons former chief of staff. Since then theres been no counteroffer from the white house. Instead, reports indicate that the president has adopted a deliberate strategy to slowwalk our economy right to the edge of the fiscal cliff. Sreenivasan the president has insisted there will be no deal unless republicans agree to raise tax rates on the top 2 . Republicans say the tax hikes would only hurt job creation. But in arlington, virginia, Vice President biden said todays jobs report shows the economy is turning a corner, so its critical to get a deal. There is a sense. There is a sense that if we can reach an act like adults and reach an agreement here on the fiscal cliff, the upside is much higher even than the downside is if we dont. Sreenivasan biden said the president is willing to consider what he called any serious offer. Aides for the two sides were expected to continue talking, through the weekend. Wall street was mostly higher on the news from novembers jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 81 points to close at 13,155. The nasdaq was hurt by another selloff in apple stock, and fell 11 points to close at 2,978. For the week, the dow gained 1 . The nasdaq lost 1 . This was another tense day across egypt, as a political crisis deepened. Tonight, thousands of protesters pushed past army and Police Outside the president ial palace, demanding that president Mohammed Morsi leave office. Hes assumed absolute powers and refuses to call off a vote on a constitution drafted by islamists. Earlier in the day, in Cairos Tahrir square, protesters gathered to speak out against morsi. translated we are not fanatics, we are not barbarians, we are devout muslims and devout christians. This is what he has to respect. He did not keep one of his promises whatsoever. We are going down the drain. If the constitutional decree is not revoked we are facing a dead end. Sreenivasan later, the government postponed the start of early voting on the constitution. Top officials also said morsi might be willing to postpone the referendum if he can reach some agreement with the opposition. On the Syrian Diplomatic front, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said today russia and the u. S. Will support new efforts to mediate peace. But clinton underscored that the u. S. Still insists that president bashar assad leave power. She spoke today in northern ireland, a day after meeting with Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and the u. N. Envoy for syria, lakhdar brahimi. We reviewed the very mr. Brahimi had his own Additional Information to contribute about what he is hearing from sources inside syria and both minister lavrov and i committed to support a renewed push by brahimi and his team to work with all the stakeholders in syria to begin a political transition. Meanwhile, rebels in syria made the Damascus International airport an official battleground. They said its a legitimate target and they urged civilians to stay clear. Fighting near the airport and around the capital city has intensified in the past week. The latest amateur video showed street battles and a car set afire by a rocket attack. The exiled leader of Hamas Khaled Meshaal entered gaza today for the first time. It was, in part, a show of defiance after the militant groups latest clash with israel. We have a report narrated by Jonathan Rugman of independent television news. Reporter he crossed the border from egypt with tears in his eyes. The leader of hamas setting foot on palestinian territory for the first time in 37 years. He had never been to gaza in his life but after kissing the tarmac apparently sobbing as he did so Khaled Meshaal said gaza had always been in his heart. There to greet him were the al qassam brigades. Named after an arab rebel leader killed by the british in the 1930s. 80 years on the fight for self rule isnt over. And thousands turned out to watch meshaals cavalcade crawl through gaza city just days after a war with israel which left around 160 palestinians dead. The second was when i was recovering from poison. I consider today my third birth, i ask god my fourth birth will be when we liberate all of palestine. Reporter it was after the arab israeli war of 1967 that meshaal fled from the occupied west bank. Hes only been back there once in jordan in 1997 Mossad Agents poisoned him. King hussein begged Benjamin Netanyahu for the antidote. And israels leader then as now eventually handed it over. Meshaal backed a steady stream of suicide bombings which israels separation wall has largely stopped and the hamas earlier this year, meshaal left his home damascus abandoning the assad regime to its fate. Hes also making peace overtures to president abbas, his palestinian rival in the west bank. Hamas government in gaza. And the hamas leader may still be a wanted man. Palestinian police have been rehearsing the drill for any assassination attempt. Is sreenivasan israel and the u. S. Consider hamas a terror