week to just under 500,000 people. continuing claims held steady at 4.6 million. john challenger, ceo of global outplacement firm challenger, gray & christmas joins us now. john, tomorrow we get this first monthly unemployment number for the new year. what do you expect? >> well, looks like unemployment is going to continue to stay high, probably above this 10% level. we are hoping to see a net positive gain in jobs. we've only seen that once, just barely in november. so over the last 2 1/2 years, that's been a rare occurrence. we are coming out of recession, and jobs are starting to get created. we're moving forward. >> but there is some disturbing news in your jobs report. employers said they plan to slash more than 71,000 jobs in january. a 59% jump from december. why that spike, and is that a sign of more to come? >> well, december was a 24-month low. and often january is a very heavy time of the year for