The INDEPENDENT, September 2, 2010
AT&T: Cell phone problems will be resolved ASAP
AT&T cell phone customers
in Vernonia have been experi-
encing service problems for
about four weeks, when at-
tempting to make or receive
calls, and with calls cutting in
and out.
When first contacted, AT&T
told The Independent that they
had a degraded cell tower and
were in the process of replac-
ing it. When problems contin-
ued after the new tower was in
place, AT&T spokesperson
Colleen Smith said, “We are
aware that there is still an ac-
cessibility issue that is being in-
vestigated.”
Smith responded, August
30, to a request for an update,
saying, “We have repaired one
of the antennas at the cell site.
Our testing concludes that it
has improved service, but we
are still seeing isolated inci-
dents of accessibility prob-
lems.” AT&T has a network en-
gineer in the field to resolve
these problems as soon as
possible.
No further updates had been
received as of press time.
State and national employment stats show ups and downs
Oregon’s seasonally adjust-
ed unemployment rate was
10.6 percent in July, minimally
changed from 10.5 percent in
June. The rate has been be-
tween 10.5 and 10.7 percent
for the most recent nine
months. The state’s unemploy-
ment rate was 11.4 percent in
July 2009.
In July, Oregon’s seasonally
adjusted nonfarm payroll em-
ployment dropped by 3,000,
following a gain of 1,800 (as re-
vised) in June.
Industry Payroll Employment
(Establishment Survey Data)
In July, three of the major in-
dustries had large seasonally
adjusted job declines: govern-
ment ( 5,200 jobs), educational
and health services (-2,600),
and financial activities (-900).
These losses were partially off-
set by notable gains in several
industries: construction (+3,500
jobs), professional and busi-
ness services (+700), and
manufacturing (+500).
There was a substantial up-
ward revision to the June pay-
roll employment numbers. The
originally reported seasonally
adjusted totals showed a drop
of 3,600 between May and
June. Revised numbers show a
gain of 1,800 jobs. The upward
revisions were concentrated in
government and professional
and business services.
Government shed 32,900
jobs in July at a time of year
when a loss of 27,700 is ex-
pected due to seasonality. The
ending of work for 1,839 inter-
mittent Census workers re-
duced both federal government
and total government for July,
subtracting from the 3,792 indi-
viduals who were working for
the Census in June.
Local government dropped
by 25,500 jobs in July as local
schools employed fewer work-
ers during summer school
break. Local education employ-
ment was 83,000 in July, which
was 4,100 below its year-ago
level.
Educational and health serv-
ices cut 5,200 jobs in July,
when a loss of only 2,600 is the
normal seasonal pattern. This
sector has experienced an un-
usual period of job losses since
the start of the year, compared
with relatively steady growth
over the prior 20 years. In the
first seven months of the year,
educational and health servic-
es has shed 3,500 jobs on a
seasonally adjusted basis.
In July, the component in-
dustry showing the biggest job
loss for the month was social
assistance, which plunged by
2,600 jobs to a total of 27,600.
Much of the drop here was due
to summer breaks in child day
care services.
Financial activities was flat
at a time of year when a gain of
900 jobs is expected due to
seasonal factors. This major in-
dustry continues to gradually
decline over the past 12
months, with all of its published
components below their July
2009 levels.
Construction showed a
strong gain in July, adding
5,200 jobs, when a gain of only
1,700 is the normal seasonal
movement during this summer
month. Gains were widespread
with all published components
adding jobs over the month.
Seasonally adjusted con-
struction
employment,
at
69,100 in July, is now well
above its low point of 64,000 in
February and has added jobs in
each of the past five months.
Despite the recent growth in
construction activity, the indus-
try is still below its year-ago fig-
ure of 73,400 jobs.
Professional and business
services added 1,900 jobs,
when a gain of 1,200 is the nor-
mal seasonal pattern. Services
to buildings and dwellings
added 500 over the month; it
took a beating during the eco-
nomic downturn, but seems to
be clawing back with over-the-
year job losses narrowing to
700 in July.
Employment services was
revised sharply higher for its
June reading. The latest esti-
mates peg June jobs at 28,600
and July at 29,700, putting July
400 above the year-ago level.
The recent, tentative rebound
in employment services is
watched closely as a leading
indicator of future overall em-
ployment patterns.
Unemployment (Household
Survey Data)
In July, Oregon’s seasonally
adjusted unemployment rate
remained
essentially
un-
changed at 10.6 percent com-
pared with 10.5 percent in
June.
Oregon’s civilian labor force
was close to 1,984,000 in both
July 2009 and July 2010. Dur-
ing that 12-month period, the
number of unemployed has
dropped by 11,361, while the
number of employed grew by
10,789, thus keeping the num-
ber of individuals in the labor
force nearly unchanged.
Page 5
Tax-exempt organizations must
file with IRS or lose the exemption
Tax-exempt organizations
that do not satisfy annual filing
requirements for three consec-
utive years automatically lose
their tax-exempt status. The In-
ternal Revenue Service is pro-
viding one-time relief for such
organizations that have filing
due dates on or after May 17
and before October 15.
The IRS list of non-profits at
risk includes organizations for
which the IRS does not have a
record of a required annual fil-
ing for 2007 and 2008, and
whose 2009 return, due on or
after May 17 and before Octo-
ber 15, has not yet been re-
ceived. The list may be incom-
plete, as certain organizations
may be at risk of automatic rev-
ocation even if their names do
not appear on these lists.
For more information, visit
http://www.irs.gov/charities/ar-
ticle/0,,id=225889,00.html .
County jobless rate
Columbia County’s season-
ally adjusted unemployment
rate was 11.8 percent in July
essentially the same as the
previous month (11.6%) but
lower than the year before
(13.5%). Total employment
rose by 86 to 21,586 but the
number of unemployed people
rose by 21 to 2,876. Total em-
ployment this July was 83
more than a year ago and 514
fewer people were unem-
ployed.