New reports show promising economic growth
Larry Smith, director of the
Career Center, says as the
economy gains strength,
so too will the job market
By Steven Neuman
News Reporter
As May comes to a dose and fresh
college graduates begin flooding the
workforce, the U.S. economy appears to
be standing on and increasingly
stronger and more stable legs, accord
ing to several economic indicator re
ports released this week.
"The numbers that you're seeing
from the national reports and indica
tors have shown a positive swing, and
our experience on campus corroborates
that," University Career Center Director
Larry Smith said. Smith said the econ
omy seems to be having a positive in
fluence on the job market but the gains
were modest compared to the previous
economic boom.
"It's still not terrific, though. I'd say
we're still at 50 percent lower recruit
ment then we were in the heyday," he
said.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis, an
agency of the U S. Department of Com
merce, released an estimate report
Thursday on the Gross Domestic Prod
uct, a major economic indicator. Ac
cording to the report, estimates show
the real GDP grew in the first quarter of
2004, exceeding advance estimates re
leased a month ago by 0.2 percent.
"GDP, the most comprehensive
measure of U.S. economic activity, is es
timated to have increased 4.4 percent,"
according to the report. "The increase
was a little stronger than in the fourth
quarter of 2003 and above the average
for the past two years."
University economics Associate Pro
fessor Tim Duy said such results indi
cate strong economic growth, adding
that a rise in the GDP generally trans
lates to an increase in jobs a few
months down the road.
The estimate reflects positive changes
in different areas of the economy, such
as spending by state and local govern
ments, consumer spending and busi
ness investment in equipment and soft
ware.
Smith said his first observation about
the most recent economic indicators
was that they usually don't present a
very timely picture of the economy
"There's usually a delay in those re
ports finding trends, be it either positive
or negative," he said.
But Smith said the national reports
seem to confirm what he has found lo
cally and in his own experience. The
most recent report from the National
Association of Colleges and Employers,
a cooperative organization of business
es and career centers in academic set
tings, found an 11.2 percent increase in
projected hiring by employers, he said.
"Comparing this year to last year, go
ing by the career fairs, the overall re
cruiting on this campus increased by 7
percent" Smith said.
1 le said corporations increased re
cruiting by 30 percent, government
agencies by 12 percent and non-profit
organizations by 4 percent. On the oth
er hand, graduate schools decreased re
cruiting by 23 percent.
Smith said these are good signs for
students leaving school for real-world
jobs.
Another report highly anticipated by
analysts, the Consumer Confidence In
dex, was released Tliesday.
The index measures how consumers
rank the current economic conditions
and gauges the general perception of
the average American consumer. The
Conference Board, a private institution
that produces the monthly study,
recorded a slight increase from a score
of 92.9 in April to 93.2 in May. After a
large jump in consumer confidence
from 88.5 in March to 92.9 in April,
confidence leveled off.
Duy said this makes sense to a degree
because most consumers have seen lit
tle evidence of actual economic recov
ery in their everyday existence.
"It's not too surprising, really," Duy
said. "If the government's findings were
good, as they were, and other positive
reports came out, then confidence ris
es, but when people don't see results
and they don't see neighbors getting
jobs, then people aren't willing to be so
confident. Government reports can
only get you so far."
Still, consumers' outlook for the next
six months remains positive,
according to the study. The number of
respondents expecting business condi
tions to improve in the next six months
rose to 22.9 percent, from 20.8 percent.
However, the number of consumers ex
pecting conditions to worsen increased
from 9.3 percent to 10.1 percent.
According to the report, consumers
and investors are also worried about a
potential rise in interest rates over the
summer, that could dampen the econ
omy's slow recovery.
A Conference Board economist Ken
Goldstein said the important thing for
students preparing to enter the job mar
ket is not to worry about the short-term
economic factors at play.
"While it is important that the econ
omy is coming back and consumer
confidence is rising, (students) should
n't be worrying about that," he said.
Goldstein said students should con
sider that the decisions they make now
can affect their future careers, and that
they should not be too anxious to "get
their foot in the door" of jobs that they
are not excited about.
Contact the business/science/
technology reporter
at stevenneuman@dailyemerald.com.
CONDEMN
continued from page 4
foreign policy is based on its individ
ual decisions and without the ap
proval of the rest of the world.
"Frankly, I don't think you require
a statement from the heads of govern
ment of democratic societies to ... in
evitably condemn that sort of behav
ior that we've seen," Patten said.
"Clearly that expression of sentiment
is mirrored in the U.S. as well."
In remarks to reporters in Mexico
City, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero praised Fox for re
fusing to support U.S. actions in Iraq.
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez
Roque, whose country's human rights
record has been condemned by the
United Nations, also condemned die
prison abuses and said he didn't un
derstand the European Union's reti
cence in approving a specific mention
of the U.S. policies against Cuba.
The approval of Paragraph 73
capped a day of meetings between
foreign ministers. They included con
tinued negotiations between the Eu
ropean Union and Mercosur, the trad
ing bloc of four South American
countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay
and Paraguay). EU Commissioner for
Trade Pascal Lamy said he expects an
agreement by October.
The talks had stalled, in part, over
differences over the EU's farm subsi
dies and the hesitation of the South
American countries to allow the EU to
keep trademarks on some of its prod
ucts, such as champagne.
"We have a better understanding of
what each side wants to offer, and
there is still work to be done," said
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso
Amorim. "But it is possible, with hard
work, to finish by October."
(c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
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STREAKER
continued from page 1
"In a way, it is kind of good prepa
ration," Leineweber said a few days
before streaking.
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Lorraine Davis said she is unaware of
any official policies that forbid in
structors from giving assignments ask
ing students to engage in illegal activi
ties, although she said it should be
understood that the practice is unac
ceptable.
"It would make sense that illegal
activities would not be promoted,"
she said. "If we got a direct report or
grievance, we would look into it."
Leineweber said in the past that he
chose to accept the assignment be
cause he didn't want to disappoint his
classmates or Wieden, who is presi
dent of the nationally renowned com
pany Wieden + Kennedy. Likewise,
Leineweber said he would not have
been afraid to stand up to the creator
of the phrase "Just do it."
"I am not scared of Dan Wieden,"
Leineweber said in an e-mail. "I never
would have had a problem speaking
up if I had a moral or ethical concern
over my assignment."
Wieden is out of the country and
unavailable for comment.
Leineweber said he understands
the assignment was not solely about
the act of streaking. That's why he said
he decided to turn his assignment
into a documentary about the contro
versy the workshop has created.
"I'm not merely streaking," he said.
"I'm going to make an effort to get a
little more out of it."
Kit Wilbur, a golf professional at
Laurelwood Municipal Golf Course,
confirmed that someone streaked
through the golf course Tuesday. I le
said police were called, but was pretty
sure they didn't show up.
"There wasn't really anything we
could do about it," he said. "I person
ally don't care, but I'm sure it offend
ed some of the customers."
Leineweber said one of the most
important things he has learned is
that facing his fears is easier than liv
ing with them. 1 le also learned not to
yell at a golfer during an upswing
while streaking across the greens.
"I almost got attacked with an 8
iron," he said.
On June 4, Leineweber will present
his project to Gleason, Wieden and
the class at the Wieden + Kennedy of
fice in Portland.
Contact the higher education/student
life/student affairs reporter
atchelseaduncan@dailyemerald.com.
Editor in Chief Brad Schmidt
contributed to this report.
UO Summer
Internships
Undergraduate Course Credit
For More Information:
stop by the Career Center, the Internship
Office in 270 Ed, or call Carla at 346-1592
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