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<p align="center"> <img border="0" src="../graphics/hronthejob.jpg" width="504" height="54"></p>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <span style="font-size: 18.0pt"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">IF
YOUR JOB WERE OPEN, WOULD YOU GET IT?</font></span></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">You
are a small company all by yourself. You are the vendor of a marketable
product, your skills. A �corporate� company must have marketability.
Additionally, your �corporeal� company must have employability. You must
treat your job, your work and your career as if it they were your small business.
In your company you must be in control. You must be in the driver�s seat
of your career. And if you�re in HR, you need to help all of the employees
in your organization have the same mindset. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">So
just how good is your product? Are your skills still valuable, effective,
updated and current? Ken Kneisel, Senior Vice President for Drake Beam
Morin, offers several suggestions for career control.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Here
are six questions you should be asking yourself to ensure our company�s future
success.</font></p>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>If Your Job Were Open, Would You Get It?</font></b></h4>
<blockquote>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Know your value,
monitor your accomplishments and keep a record.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Find out what�s
happening in your field. What are the latest improvements? What
kind of problems is your employer experiencing? What are the best minds
and companies in your field doing to solve those problems? Are there
training courses, certifications, seminars that you should be taking part
in? Are you taking on new assignments or even creating them on your
own? Know your market value and the salary ranges in your organization,
industry, region and function. Imagine the questions and the standards
your company would use to fill your job.</font></p>
</blockquote>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Do You Know What You Contribute?</font></b></h4>
<blockquote>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Your most important
career strategy is to maintain the highest performance standards and to consistently
create positive results. Solving problems, looking for more efficient
ways to do things, maintaining high levels of productivity and quality will
establish your standard of effectiveness and reliability. Set goals
and objectives that do the right things for your organization and measure
your contribution. </font></p>
</blockquote>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>What Would You Do If Your Job Disappeared Tomorrow?</font></b></h4>
<blockquote>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Understand the
industry trends and the latest developments in your field. Join industry
groups and professional organizations, attend conferences, develop a network,
select and develop a strong working relationship with senior managers.
These are actions that create the right environment to uncover opportunities
and gather information about the future of your industry and the viability
of the work you do.</font></p>
</blockquote>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">4.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Are You Learning Anything?</font></b></h4>
<blockquote>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Consistently
anticipate your organization�s needs. Compare your skills and knowledge
to those needs. Are you doing anything to improve your ability to meet
those needs? That�s how to solidify your value to the organization today
and tomorrow. Increase your skill base by taking advantage of the learning
opportunities already available. Then look for ways to create or suggest
new, relative learning experiences.</font></p>
<h4><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">5. <b>Do The Key Players
In Your Organization Know Who You Are And What You Contribute?</b></font></h4>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">How can you
create visibility or yourself (A key strategy for career management)?
By consistently evaluating yourself, identifying and selecting the<i> right
</i>goals, focusing on creating results, keeping track of your accomplishments
and discussing and articulating them, growing your skill base and knowing
the what and the who of your organization and your industry, you will, as
a by-product of all these endeavors, create visibility for yourself.</font></p>
</blockquote>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">6.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Do You Know Where You Are Going And How To Get There?</font></b></h4>
<blockquote>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">If you don�t
know where you�re going, it doesn�t matter which road you take. Where
do you want to be in five years? Paint that picture now as clearly as
you can. Having a career plan will give you much better control over
your future. More importantly, it enables you to recognize the opportunities
that are right for you when they arise, not after they�re gone. It enables
you to measure your progress and to identify those wrong turns you don�t want
to take. </font></p>
</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.05in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Only
you can guarantee your job security. Only you can better ensure your employability.
There will be many uncertainties in your life. Knowing who and what you
are, what you want and a plan to get you there are the best ways to control
and master those uncertainties and your future. You are your company and
you can run it any way you choose.</font></p>
<hr>
<h2 style="margin-left:.75in" align="center">
<font face="Verdana" color="#008000">Have an employment question?</font></h2>
<h3 style="margin-left:.75in" align="center"><font face="Verdana">Send it to
<a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=From HR On The Job">
[email protected]</a></font></h3>
<p style="margin-left:.75in" align="center"><b><font face="Verdana" size="2">
Please include Company Name and Association in your e-mail. Company
identification will be kept confidential.</font></b></p>
<hr>
<h2 align="left"><b><u><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hitchhiking on the Information
Highway</font></u></b></h2>
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font
size="4" color="#FF0000">Dateline: November 2006</font></b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Note. Although we attempt to provide the HRU update on the first
of each month, we are normally delayed awaiting the release of several
monthly government statistical reports. We will hereafter update the information
as each report becomes available without waiting for all of them to be
released.</font></i></p>
<p> </p>
<table border="0" width="100%" height="3729">
<tr valign="top">
<td width="100%" height="3702">
<blockquote> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<div align="center">
<h2><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">IRS RAISES
MILEAGE ALLOWANCE FOR 2007</font></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Each
year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calculates what it considers
to be the cost of operating an automobile for business. That
cost is expressed as a dollar per-mile allowance.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
If you pay your employees this amount to reimburse them for using
their personal automobiles for your business, then you may claim that
amount as a deduction on your business taxes. If you pay them
less than that amount, your employees may be able to deduct that missing
amount on their taxes. If you pay them more than that amount,
they may have to report that extra amount as additional income and
pay taxes on that difference.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
The IRS mileage allowance for 2007 is:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>48.5� per mile for business miles</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>20� per mile for medical or moving expenses</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>14� per mile for miles driven in aid to a charitable
organization.</font></p>
<table border="1" width="50%" id="table17" cellpadding="2" height="102">
<tr>
<td valign="top" height="78">
<h4 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�Happiness
has no existence of it�s own and probably exists only inside
yourself�</font></b></h4>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>-Douglas
Sirk</i></font></h4>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�YOU�LL
LIKE WHAT I TELL YOU TO LIKE!�</font></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Our
media is so important to us that many of us are considered �News Junkies�
We must be kept up to date on every story or news item throughout
the day. If we hear the same story repeated over and over again,
it becomes �common knowledge� If the �common knowledge� is that
the economy is in bad shape, while it�s actually booming we may well
feel terrible about our miserable condition. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">A
recent survey brings us another example. Most Americans workers
are reminded often about how bad they feel about health care benefits
in the U.S. Just ask anybody. And that�s just what The Employee
Health Benefit Research Institute did. They interviewed working
employees asked them to rate the health care benefits of American
employees. The results:</font></p>
<div align="left">
<table border="0" width="16%" id="table23">
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="101"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>Poor </font></p>
</span>
</td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">51%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="101"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>Fair
</font></p>
</span>
</td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">28%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="101"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>Okay </font></p>
</span>
</td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">21%</font></span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
That pretty much tells us that U.S. workers health care benefits are
bad, right?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
However, when asked how <u>their</u> health benefits are, they say:</font></p>
<div align="left">
<table border="0" width="23%" id="table24">
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="184"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>Extremely Satisfied </font></p>
</span>
</td>
<td valign="top"><span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
18%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="184"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>Very Satisfied </font></p>
</span>
</td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">36%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="184"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>Somewhat Satisfied </font></p>
</span>
</td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">35%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="184"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .3in" align="left">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="font-family: Symbol">�<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span>Not Satisfied </font></p>
</span>
</td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">11%</font></span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
So workers believe that health care benefits are bad until you ask
the workers. </font></p>
<p> </div>
<div align="center">
<table border="1" width="50%" id="table19" height="111">
<tr>
<td height="85" valign="top">
<h4 class="MsoBodyText2" align="center"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�Every
interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit,
extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others�</font></b></h4>
<h4 class="MsoBodyText2" align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>-<b>Ayn
Rand</b></i></font></h4>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div align="center">
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">MORE
COMPANIES DOING BACKGROUND CHECKS</font></b><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt"> </span></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">And
that�s a good thing. 80 % of all companies were doing background
checks in 2003 compared to only 51% in 1996 according to a survey
by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In doing
so, employers found that 8.5% of those job candidates had criminal
records. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
The survey also showed that 33% of companies did credit checks compared
to only 22% 1998. That�s an increase of almost 55% over the previous
five years. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
This increase in background checks improves the quality of the hiring
process and is growing partly because of the increase in lawsuits
for negligent hiring that leads to workplace violence. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
However, with this increase comes a need to develop policies and procedures
that must be faithfully followed to avoid discrimination charges.
This dichotomy between refusing to hire someone due to bad records
and then facing charges of illegal discrimination or hiring in spite
of those same bad records and being charged with negligent hiring
can be for a precarious tightrope walk. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
In criminal background checks, focus on the convictions instead of
the arrests. Doing credit checks is risky and is even more difficult
to relate to a person�s ability to perform a specific job. When
you do credit checks you, in effect, assume the same role as a bank
or an issuer of credit cards. That is, you must comply with
the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You must inform the individual
of your intent to check his/her credit, obtain their approval to do
so, report the results back to them and if you reject the individual
based on any part of that credit check, you must provide them an opportunity
to appeal and if need be , to correct the credit data.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt"> </span></p>
<table border="1" width="50%" id="table20">
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<h4 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�If we
knew what we were doing, it wouldn�t be called research�</font></b></h4>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>-A. Einstein</i></font></h4>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h3><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">AND YOUR MOTHER
DRESSES YOU FUNNY<span style="font-family: Arial"> </span></font>
</h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Most
of us have heard of or witnessed the dreaded �Helicopter Parents�.
A derogatory term used to describe parents who hover over their children
and swoop in to intervene at the first sign of any difficulties their
child might be facing. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
Such parents can�t seem to let their children face any of life�s events
on their own. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
They�re now starting to include the workplace as part of their protective
area.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
Parents of adult employees are coming into their child�s workplace
to complain about bad performance reviews or desired rises.
An article in Fast Company magazine described parents who showed up
at their 24 year-old son�s place of employment after he failed to
receive a bonus because of a poor performance review. The parents
demanded to speak to the CEO who refused to discuss the matter with
them. They eventually had to be escorted out of the building.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
In another incident reported in the Kansas City Star, a parent called
the HR Department 17 times after the supervisor said he needed to
improve his performance before he could be considered for a promotion.
The 22 year old employee also filed a grievance stating that they
were rude to his Mom.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
And I�ll bet he never risked his life playing those dangerous games
of Tag or Dodge Ball.</font></p>
<table border="1" width="50%" id="table21">
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<table border="0" width="100%" id="table22" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top"><b>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
Pessimist</span></font></b></td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<b>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�The glass
is half empty�</font></b></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
<span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
Optimist </span></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
�The glass is half full�</b></font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
<span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
Engineer</span></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
�The glass is twice as big as it needs to be�</b></font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
<span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
Accountant </span></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
�Does this glass really need all that water?�</b></font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
Quantum Physicist</span></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
�This glass has a 50% probability of holding water�</b></font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
<span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
Philosopher </span></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"> <span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
�If no one looks at the glass, who�s to say how full or
empty it is?�</b></font></span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<div align="center">
<h4><i><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">-Anon</font></i></h4>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center"> </div>
</span>
<blockquote>
<hr width="75%">
<p></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<table border="0" width="33%">
<tr>
<td width="64%" valign="top">
<div style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1; padding-left: 4; padding-right: 4; padding-top: 1; padding-bottom: 1">
<p align="left"><font size="-1"
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Minimum Wage:</b></font></p>
</div>
</td>
<center>
<td width="100%" valign="top">
<h3><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">$5.15/hr.</font></h3>
</td>
</center>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="0" width="99%">
<tr>
<td width="13%" valign="middle" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1"><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Average
Income:</b></font></td>
<td width="67%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1">
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber4" height="76">
<tr>
<td width="100%" height="76">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber5">
<tr>
<td width="50%" align="center"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Hourly</font></b></td>
<td width="50%" align="center"><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Weekly</font></b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber6" height="50">
<tr>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center"> <u><font size="-1"><b>October</b></font></u><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>
2005</u></font></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><br>
$16.28</font>
</td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>October</b></font></u></font></span><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="text-decoration: none"><u>
2006</u></span></font></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u><br>
</u>$16.</font><font size="-1">81</font></td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>October</b></font><b> 2005</b></u><br>
</font></span>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
$550.26</font>
</td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>October</b></font><b> 2006</b></u></font></span><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u><br>
</u>$573.25</font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
<td width="20%" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<table border="0" width="99%" height="96">
<tr>
<td width="100%" height="40" colspan="2">
<h3 align="center"><span style="text-decoration: none"><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Federal<br>
Poverty Level:</b></font></span></h3>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="50%" height="48">
<p align="center"><b><u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">One
(1) Person<br>
</font></u></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">$10,160</font>
</td>
<td width="50%" height="48">
<p align="center"><u><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Family
of Four</font></b></u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><br>
$19,806</font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<hr noshade color="#000000">
</font><table border="0" width="100%">
<b></b><tr>
<b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<td width="37%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b>IRS Mileage Allowance :</b></font></p>
</td>
</font></b><center><b></b><td width="63%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1">
<b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<div align="left"><font size="-1"><b>44.5</b> </font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">cents per mile</font></div>
</font></b><div align="left"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><font size="-1">As of January 1st 2007
increases to 48.5</font></font><font face="Verdana" size="-1">
cents</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
per mile</font></b><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><br>
</font></font></b></div>
</td>
</center>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr>
<td width="32%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b>Postage:</b></font></p>
</td>
<center>
<td width="68%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1"> </td>
</center>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">1 oz.</font></td>
<td width="68%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">.39</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Each additional ounce</font></td>
<td width="68%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">.24</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><i>Postcards</i></font></td>
<td width="68%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">.24</font></td>
</tr>
</table>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<b>
<p>
<table border="0" width="38%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
</table>
<table border="0" width="98%">
<tr>
<td width="34%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b><u>Population:</u></b></font></p>
</td>
<center>
<td width="82%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1"> </td>
</center>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="34%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b>World</b></font></td>
<td width="82%">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">6.5 Billion</font>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="34%" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b>U.S.</b></font></td>
<td width="82%" valign="top">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">300
Million</font>
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>One
birth every 8 seconds<br>
One death every 13 seconds<br>
One new immigrant every 30 seconds<br>
Net gain = 1 person every second</i></font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</b>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<table border="1" width="99%" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr> <b>
<td width="48%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1">
<p align="left"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">U.S.
Workforce</font></b></p>
</td>
</b>
<center>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>October</b></font></u></font></span><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><u><font size="-1">
2005</font></u></b></font></td>
<b>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>October</b></font></u></font></span><u><span style="font-weight:700"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
</font></span>
</u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>
<b>
2006 </b></u></font></td>
</b>
</center>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">U.S. Civilian Workforce</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">150,043,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">151,998,000</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><font size="-1">Number Employed</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">142,625,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
145,287,000</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Number Unemployed</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1">7,418,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
6,711,000</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Unemployment Rate</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<p><font size="-1">4.9</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">%</font></p>
</td>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<p><font size="-1">4.4</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="96">
<tr>
<td width="43%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1" height="38">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font size="-1">2005
Absentee Rates </font></b></font></td>
<center>
<td width="56%" align="center" valign="top" height="38"> </td>
</center>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="44%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1" height="31">
<font size="-1"><span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Men
</font></span> </font></td>
<td width="56%" align="center" valign="top" height="31">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.5%</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="44%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1" height="27">
<font size="-1"><span style="text-decoration: none"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Women</font></span></font></td>
<td width="56%" align="center" valign="top" height="27">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">4.4%</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="44%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1" height="23">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Total</b></font></td>
<td width="56%" align="center" valign="top" height="23">
<h4 align="center"><font size="-1"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">3.3%</font></b></font></h4>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber3" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr>
<td width="100%">
<h4><b><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">PRODUCTIVITY
OF THE AMERICAN WORKFORCE</font></b><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
(The amount of goods produced, divided by the number of work hours
it took to produce it)</font></h4>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber2" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1992</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">3.7%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1993</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">0.5%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1994</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">1.3%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1995</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">0.9%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1996</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.5%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1997</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.0%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1998</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.6%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1999</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.4%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>2000</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.9%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>2001</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">1.1%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>2002</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">4.7%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>2003</b></font></td>
<td width="68%"><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">4.5%</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"><font size="-1"><b>2004</b></font></td>
<td width="68%"><font size="-1">4.0%</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>2005</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2.6%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>1st
Quarter 2006</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">+3.7%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<font size="-1"><b>2nd</b></font><b>
Quarter 2006</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">+1.6%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<font size="-1"><b>3rd</b></font><span style="text-decoration: none"><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
Quarter 2006</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%">
<font size="-1">Stable - No Change</font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="100%" height="21"> </td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><font face="Verdana" size="2">� William J. Cook</font></p>
</body>
</html>