From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Job cuts are taking their toll.

Hello again, I'm Warren Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Monday, it was 20,000

at Caterpillar, 8,000 at Pfizer and Sprint Nextel, 7,000 at Home Depot. Yesterday it was 3,500

at Corning Glass, and today it's 10,000 at Boeing. In manufacturing and retail, even in Silicon Valley,

unemployment is rising fast. Today, we'll hear which workers are

most likely to be laid off and which companies are trying to hold on to their employees in an

economy transformed by recession. What will it take to get the next job? On reporter's notebook later on,

why is a Super Bowl ad more than just a commercial?

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation,

and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign for American workers. More at rockfound.org. Hello again. Warman Alney back with To The Point. 2.5 million Americans lost their jobs in 2008, and this year, 3 million more are likely to be laid off. Today, we'll look at the impact of unemployment across the country. What will it take to get the next job in a restructured economy?

On reporter's notebook, recession or not, a Super Bowl ad will cost $100,000 a second.

Why would a company pay that kind of money?

First, this news update.

On his first trip, as Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, has gone from Cairo to Jerusalem.

Meantime relations between Israel and the Palestinians have gone from bad to worse.

An Israeli soldier was killed by a car bomb on the frontier with the Gaza Strip,

and Israel responded with tanks and airstrikes.

...