Hard work
Posted: Thursday, July 03, 2008 4:28 PM by Sam Singal
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Brian is off and so I'll be in the anchor chair tonight.
It's been said before that if you're the one out of work the unemployment rate is 100%. The government posted its unemployment numbers for last month today and they won't come as a surprise to those out there pounding the pavement for a job and coming up empty. 438,000 jobs have been lost this year as May's high unemployment rate held steady last month. Employers have cut workers for six straight months. CNBC's Scott Cohn will be on the broadcast to show us exactly what job seekers are facing, and the sometimes tough choices they are forced to make.
Barack Obama is sending some interesting signals today that some believe could be a prelude to him changing his tune on when and how to exit Iraq. This all comes ahead of Obama's previously announced trip to Iraq. NBC's Lee Cowan is working the story and will have a lot more on this.
NBC's Mark Potter has learned some fascinating details of exactly how that hostage rescue was pulled off in Colombia yesterday. Call it the anatomy of a sting.
We just received word that another part of California has been placed under a state of emergency because of threatening wildfires. Things there are going from bad to worse. George Lewis will be reporting that story tonight.
I hope you can catch our story tonight on a young man from South Africa who danced his way through long held barriers and out of the townships to become one of that country's premier ballet performers. And now he is in this country. NBC's Amna Nawaz will share his journey with us.
Thanks for checking in. We'll look for you tonight on NBC Nightly News.