optimistic the country will climb out of this quickest downturn since the great depression. >>> the picture grim with the number of people losing their jobs. in fact, california leads the nation with an unemployment rate of 10%. the stiff competion for limited positions is forcing some job-seekers to get creative. jean elle is in san francisco where there's a new way to polish those interview skills. >> reporter: you've probably heard of speed dating. how about speed interviewing? it may sound strange but in this market, job-seekers are willing to do just about anything for an advantage. >> kind of on the chopping block right now. it's a challenge. >> the availability of jobs and the number of applicants out there, you're going to have to be very flexible in finding something to at least tide us over until this economic downturn sort of passes. >> reporter: dream jobs are on hold for dozens of studentth graduating from usf. 12.5 million americans are out of work. millions more underworked. >> people are being forced from full-time to part-time jobs. people who are losing hours. also now we're starting to see pay cuts in different occupations and industries. >> reporter: the grim outlook has some working harder to succeed. speed interviewing puts interview skills to the test. >> it was good to rehearse wlaupt to say, how you want to say it. >> your resume is a piece of paper. the interview is an actual impression to the people. i think it's very important. >> reporter: in this market, an advantage might pay. according to government data there are 2 million jobs available across the country. but at least five people are competing for each position. new and experienced workers are scared. >> there is a nervousness out there amongst students and we also have seen alums come by, come back to our career services center for services as well. >> reporter: all hoping to hear those magic words -- >> you're hired. >> reporter: there may be more opportunities coming. implementing the federal stimulus package will require some hiring. >>> he may be the most despised man in america. tomorrow, we may finally hear from bernie madoff himself. he is expected to formally enter a plea to charges he was the mastermind behind a $170 billion fraud scheme. ripping off charities, celebrities, young and old, and there could be more. tomorrow morning, bernie madoff, the man accused of bilking billions of dollars in wall street's biggest ponzi scheme, will be in court to face 11 criminal counts and a possible prison sentence of 150 years. defense lawyers say madoff plans to plead guilty to all federal charges. and that includes securities and wire fraud. money laundering. perjury. stealing millions from labor

federal stimulus money will be spent. coming up, nbc bay area's brooke hart will be live in washington, d.c. with the latest spending plans from the white house. >>> one concern, even if everything washington does works, it can't add jobs to the economy as fast as companies are cutting. scott mcgrew here with the latest layoff news. >>> chip makers national semiconductor said late yesterday it would cut a staggering quarter of the company. the numbers are worldwide and includes plants in china, but locally we'll still take a big hit. more than 300 people will lose their jobs in santa clara county. the cause? we've talked about this so many times -- less demand for gadgets and devices means less demand for chips. california already leads the nation with the unemployment rate of 10%, and the stiff competition for limited positions is forcing some job-seekers to get creative. as nbc bay area's jean ellie reports, there is a new way to polish those interview skills. >> reporter: you've probably heard of speed dating. but how about speed interviewing? it may sound a little bit strange, but in this job market, people looking for a job will do just about anything to have an advantage. >> every job that i want -- is kind of on the chopping block right now. definitely. it's a kwhal eng. >> with the availability of jobs and the number of applicants that are out there, you're going to have to be very flexible. and finding you know, something to at least tied us over until this economic downturn sort of passes. >> reporter: dream jobs are on hold for dozens of students graduating from usf. 12.5 million americans are out of work, millions more are underworked. >> people are being forced from full-time to part-time jobs. people who are losing hours and also, now we're starting to see pay cuts in different occupations and industries. >> the grim outlook has some working harder to succeed. speed interviewing puts interview skills to the test. >> it's good rehearse what you want to say, how you want to say it. >> your resume is a piece of paper. and it needs to be the actual impression. so i think it's very important. >> in this market, an advantage might pay. according to government data dlrks are two million jobs available across the country. but at least five people are competing for each position. new and experienced workers are scared. >> there is a nervousness out there. it was amongst, you know, students and we also have seen quite a few alums come back to our career services center for services as well. >> reporter: hoping to hear those magic words -- >> you're hired. >> reporter: there may be opportunities coming, implementing the federal stimulus package will require some hiring, reporting in san francisco, jean ellie. nbc bay area news. >>> wall street has not seen a two-day winning streak in months. the dow industrials rose all of three points, that still counts

how many people won't just take all that money and run. and on the flip side, there could be an infusion of new residents, because roche will be moving a good part of its new jersey-based u.s. operations to south san francisco. it's also closing parts of its operations in palo alto, moving them to the gentech campus. roche, as you may know, had a majority stake in genentech, but it wanted the whole thing. some critics and employees are worried about what's going 0 to happen. roche and gentech say they expect the acquisition to save $750,000 a year. most of the cost-cutting will occur on the roche side, not genentech side. >> mike huckman, that's what we wanted to hear. california does lead the nation with an unemployment rate of 10%. the stiff competion for limited positions, forcing some job-seekers to get creative. as nbc bay area's jean ellie reports, there is is a new way to polish those interview skills. >> reporter: you've probably heard of speed dating, but how about speed interviewing? it may sound a little bit strange, but in this job market, people looking for a job will do just about anything to have an advantage. >> every job that i want is kind of on the chopping block right now. definitely the it's a challenge. >> with the availability of jobs and the number of applicants that are out there, you're going to have to be very flexible. and finding, you know, something that to at least tide us over until this economic downturn sort of passes. >> dream jobs are on hold for dozens of students graduating from usf. 12.5 million americans are out of work. millions more are underworked. >> people are being forced from full-time to part-time jobs. people who are losing hours and also now we're starting to see pay cuts in different occupations and industries. >> reporter: the grim outlook has some working harder to succeed. speed interviewing puts interview skills to the test. >> it's good to reletters what you want to say, how you want to say it. >> your resume is a piece of paper. and the first impression for other people, i think it's important. >> reporter: in this market, an advantage might pay, according to government data, there are two million jobs available across the country. but at least five people are competing for each position. new and experienced workers are scarce. >> there is a nervousness out there. with, amongst, you know, students and we also have seen quite a few alums come by, come back to our career services center for services as well. >> all hoping to hear those magic words -- >> you're hired. >> reporter: there may be some opportunities coming. implementing the federal stimulus package will require some hiring. reporting in san francisco, jean ellie, nbc bay area news. >>> we were talking earlier about the ipod. here it is, this is the newest ipod shuffle. it came out just yesterday. it should be in stores today. it has only one button and will