Econ 101: The economy added 113,000 jobs in January, a disappointment for economists who had been hoping for 180,000. Combined with a weak job showing in December the January performance suggests a slowdown in the job market, even though unemployment dropped a tick to 6.6 percent, the lowest in five years.

Sochi: Opening ceremonies for the 2014 Winter Olympics are tonight. At $50 billion it’s the most expensive Olympics ever staged, designed to be a showpiece for Russian President Vladimir Putin. And it’s an odd one: winter sports centered in a town on the Black Sea that has palm trees. Sochi is an armed camp, with 37,000 security officers to provide a “ring of steel” around the athletes and spectators in a troubled region of Russia.

  As a thumb in the eye to Russia’s hostility to homosexuality, the US sent openly gay representatives with its delegation. President Obama and leaders from Britain, France, and Germany are staying home. Let the games begin.

Nation: The Senate yesterday fell two votes short of breaking a Republican filibuster against extending long term unemployment benefits. Republicans and Democrats from some of the most economically depressed states tried to get together to pass the bill. As many as 1.7 million Americans have lost unemployment payments since the long-term extension expired in December.

>House Speaker John Boehner yesterday said he doubts Congress will pass immigration reform this year because Republicans don’t trust President Obama.

Winter: Following this week’s winter storm, hundreds of thousands of customers are still in the dark from Arkansas through Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts as power crews work around the clock to restore electricity. A new storm is moving in over the weekend.

World: A suicide bomber blew the gates at a Syrian prison near Aleppo, clearing the way for rebel gunmen to free hundreds of inmates. It’s part of a rebel plan to hit the government at key installations to show its weakness. The government continues to drop crude barrel bombs on civilians as both sides try to strengthen their position in advance of a second round of peace talks.

>Sony announced that it is selling its PC and television businesses to concentrate on smart phones and tablets. Some analysts say it’s a strange choice to sell tablets that are not partnered with PCs. And giving up on televisions is a big move. Sony was once the gold standard.

>About 2,200 people were evacuated in Hong Kong yesterday as police disarmed a 2,000-pound bomb dropped on the city during the Japanese occupation in WWII almost 70 years ago. Other bombs have been found, but this was the biggest.  

The Obit Page: Hall of Fame slugger and announcer Ralph Kiner died yesterday in Rancho Mirage, Calif. at age 91. Playing for three teams from 1946 to 1955, Kiner hit 369 home runs, more than anyone in his time. But he was better known for 50 years as an announcer with tangled syntax for the NY Mets. He once famously said, “if Casey Stengel were still alive he’d be spinning in his grave.” In Kiner’s own words, “Going, going, gone, goodbye!”

Good Night: Funnyman almost to the very end, Jay Leno quipped in his final opening monologue, “I don’t like goodbyes; NBC does.” Leno has been pushed out of “The Tonight Show” chair twice, this time to make way for 39-year-old Jimmy Fallon. Ending the show nearly in tears Leno said, “This has been the greatest 22 years of my life.”

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