Unemployment rate increases
The number of jobless citizens in
Oregon increases 0.1 percent,
which means 127,000 workers
are without employment
ByJanMontry
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon’s economy hit a cross
roads last week, leaving many to
question whether Oregon will re
cover or dive deeper into econom
ic downturn.
The Oregon Employment Depart
ment announced Friday that the
unemployment rate increased 0.1
percent from a June rate of 7.2 per
cent. That 0.1 percent represents
127,000 workers who were unem
ployed in Oregon in July.
Since January, Oregon’s economy
has been a series of jumps and dives.
In January and February of this
year, the jobless rate peaked at 8.1
percent but started a steady de
cline, ending at 7.2 percent in June.
After three months of improve
ment, a surprising jump in unem
ployment prompted the question of
whether the Oregon economy is ac
tually improving.
“I think our position is we’ve
seen the worst, and we’re waiting
our way out of it,” state economist
Amy Vander Vliet said.
This month, unemployment
mainly affected the education sec
tors while the manufacturing sector
saw a continuing gain.
In the private education sector,
3,700 jobs were cut, while the man
ufacturing sector added 5,900 jobs.
Both the amount of jobs cut and
added were abnormally high for
this time of year.
For manufacturing, the jump in
employment came as a surprise be
cause Oregon’s economic decline
last year mostly affected this indus
try. In March, the number of em
ployed manufacturing workers had
decreased to 219,600, Oregon’s
lowest level since January 1995.
7 think our position is we’ve
seen the worst, and we’re
waiting our way out of it. ”
Amy Vander Vliet
Oregon state economist
Vliet attributed the manufacturing
increase to a strong month in food
processing and other sectors within
manufacturing that added jobs.
The extreme unemployment is
prompting Sen. Ron Wyden, D
Oregon, and Rep. Peter DeFazio,
D-Oregon, to decry a recent U.S.
Labor Department decision to re
duce the “duration and effective
ness” of a National Emergency
Grant, which uses federal funds to
retrain workers.
The department recently re
duced retraining time from 24 to
nine months for Oregon NEG
grantees, potentially hurting Ore
gon’s ability to raise employment.
Wyden spokeswoman Carol
Guthrie said the longer workers can
retrain, the better employment they
may be able to get.
“When the training period is cut
to nine months, it limits employ
ment opportunities,” Guthrie said.
On Friday, the Oregon Office of
Economic Analysis released a pre
liminary state economic forecast
predicting a 0.7 percent decrease in
jobs this year and a 1.7 percent in
crease next year, evidence that Ore
gon is on the way to recovery with
some bumps on tide road.
OOEA economist Tom Po
tiowsky said there will still be
some periods of layoffs as well as
hiring, even though the down
town is improving.
“We’re still calling for a bottom
ing out of this recession now and
an increase for next year,” he said.
Contact the reporter
at janmontry@dailyemerald.com.
Analysts urge rate cut to fix economy
By Ken Moritsugu
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
WASHINGTON — Most analysts
don’t expect the Federal Reserve to
cut interest rates when it meets
Tuesday, despite the stock market’s
recent slide and the growing risk of
a return to recession.
However, some on Wall Street are
clamoring for a rate cut, including
economists at Morgan Stanley, Gold
man Sachs and Lehman Bros, in
vestment banks. The fact that such
financial powerhouses are even rais
ing that possibility for the first time
in months signals how much more
uncertain the economic outlook has
become in recent weeks.
“The risks have gotten a lot
worse,” said Bruce Kasman, an
economist at J.P. Morgan Chase in
New York.
The Fed’s interest-rate-setting
committee, led by Chairman Alan
Greenspan, is scheduled to release
its decision at 11:15 a.m. PDT.
Separately Tuesday, President
Bush will try to ease public concern
about the economy at a conference
on the topic he is convening in
Waco, Texas. And on Wednesday,
the nation’s top corporations must
file statements with the Securities
and Exchange Commission assur
ing that their finances are honestly
reported, a step analysts hope will
calm shaken financial markets.
July’s steep stock-market slide
tripped up the economy, which had
bounced back last winter after a
mild recession. Factory production
was flat in July and the economy
added just 6,000 jobs, far fewer
than needed for a healthy recovery.
Even so, most forecasters don’t ex
pect a so-called double-dip reces
sion, in which the economy falls
back into a period of shrinkage after
a temporary uptick in growth. But
the risks of a double dip have risen,
and some analysts think the risks are
high enough to merit a rate cut.
“It seems to me it makes good
sense to be pre-emptive at this
point and take out some insurance
just to get things going,” said Peter
Hooper, chief economist in the
New York office of Deutsche Bank.
But other analysts are skeptical,
noting that mortgage rates are at or
near record lows, and housing and
auto sales, among the most interest
rate-sensitive areas, remain strong.
“I don’t think lower rates at this
point are going to make a whole lot
of difference getting this economy
out of a rut,” said Mark Zandi, chief
economist at Economy.com, a con
sulting firm in West Chester, Pa.
© 2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Autzen
continued from page 1
employee.
“I’m coming forward because ...
I’m appalled that this is happen
ing,” the source said. “It’s simply
unethical to do a job this way.”
The most severe of the alleged
violations involves the joining of
sprinkler pipes, Thrapp said. The
anonymous letter said that “near
ly 80 percent of the piping in
stalled was not reamed” and that
joint compounds were incorrectly
applied.
If those claims are true, Thrapp
said particles could mix with the
water, thus hindering the effective
ness of the sprinkler system.
Thrapp said Cosco will be re
quired to make changes in accor
dance with national standards if
any of the allegations are found to
be truthful.
The.source also said that while
the pipes were supposed to be hung
from concrete decking, the contrac
tor didn’t pour concrete.
Eugene plan review supervisor
Steve McGuire said if it is found
that concrete should have been
poured, “it isn’t hard to remedy.
Builders may just need to add
support.”
The project will be turned over to
engineers to design a solution if in
spectors find discrepancies with
the original plans, McGuire said.
Balzhiser & Hubbard Engineers, the
primary designers for the project,
declined to comment.
Cosco Vice President Dave Kem,
who visited the site Friday, said the
company believes all work was
done properly.
In Eugene to monitor the
progress of the installation Friday
morning, Kem was on his way back
to Seattle when he first became
aware of the allegations.
“Possibly, . there’s something
there that we might have to do
some minor corrective work,” Kem
said. “That’s why we have to do a
very thorough investigation.
“If there is a problem, they can
rest assured it will be corrected.”
John Norton, Hunt-Wildish
Joint Venture’s project administra
tor for the Autzen Stadium expan
sion, declined to comment on the
allegations.
For the past eight months, con
struction crews have been frantical
ly working in hopes of reopening
Autzen Stadium by the season
opener. The $90 million project
will add about 12,000 seats, push
ing the stadium’s capacity to be
tween 54,000 and 55,000.
Contact the sports editor
at bradschmidt@dailyemerald.com
and the managing editor
at jennischultz@dailyemerald.com.
Editor in chief Michael J. Kleckner
contributed to this report.
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