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<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">RECRUITING
SHORTCUTS</font></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Seasonal
hiring time is beginning again. Some companies actually started last Fall.
For many employers it hits like a cold shower every season. We tend to
think it�s mostly about writing a good catchy ad and waiting for the results.
Actually, according to most professional recruiters, newspaper advertising produces
just about the lowest return on your investment (ROI) of almost any form of
recruiting. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Recruiting
is a science, a skill and an art. If your company is large enough to have
someone dedicated to this task every year, then you know something about the
processes of sourcing, screening, pre-qualifying, pre-interviewing, interviewing
and selection. For many landscape companies however, recruiting is a stressful
process that takes you into a foreign land where you have to operate on your
instincts and guesswork. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">But
the big up-front expense is time. Recruiting can be a full time job.
Although this investment of time can be the very key to successful hiring, most
of us would like to find a shortcut to the whole process. Here are a few
tried and true shortcuts, one or more of which may work for you.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<ol style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Connect
to your local college or training school</b>. Introduce yourself to
the instructor at one of the many business related courses. Explain
what you need and ask for recommendations. Offer your help by supplementing
his/her classes and speaking to them. Be a source for them and they
might be a source for you.</font></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<ol style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" start="2" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Locate
a cooperative training program at a nearby college or university. </b>Cooperative
programs are always looking for companies that can provide related<b> </b>job
opportunities for their students. Normally you will get a student with related
skills and though it�s a temporary solution, you may be able to hire the person
as a full-time employee when he/she has completed the program.</font></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<ol style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" start="3" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Hire
through a local government program.</b> Contact your local Department
Of Labor and the state and federal governments . They have many programs
to aid both the company and the job-seeker. Your local state employment
office requires those receiving unemployment compensation to seek employment
and to respond to ob openings. Although not always very effective, they
will often refer acceptable candidates to you. These sources often have a
website where opportunities are explained. </font></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<ol style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" start="4" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Hire
a qualified veteran.</b> There is a new site from the Veteran�s Administration
< <u><span style="color:blue"> hirevetsfirst.gov</span></u> > . You
provide them with the job code for the position you are trying to fill and
they will match that job code to the related military job codes to match you
up with qualified veterans. You can acquire the job code for your job
opening by looking in the �Dictionary of Occupational Titles� at your local
library or by contacting one of the sources above. Like all government
sources, you may have to go through a few steps to reach the final goal.
</font></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Use
the web.</b> There are many �job board� sites on the Net, you can place
a job listing or search for employees. Although seemingly expensive
and confusing, they can be quite low cost when compared to the cost and ROI
of newspaper ads and it takes a very short time to learn to navigate within
them. A site such as <u><span style="color:blue"> Monster.com</span></u> is
an example. </font></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"> </p>
<ol style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" start="6" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Put
the word on the street. </b>In his best selling book �The Tipping Point�
author Malcom Gladwell reports that the most effective method for job match-ups
is networking. That means connecting with other people and establishing
lines of communication. The most effective form of networking is the
casual contact. Not the regular pattern of meetings and phone calls
with people you know, but the comment made on an elevator that is overheard,
the casually mentioned information to the man at the cleaners when you pick
up your shirts, the conversation with someone at the bank etc. This is how
real networking works, when the energy to carry on the message is continuing
even when you�re not the one carrying it. </font></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b> </b></font></p>
<ol style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" start="7" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Get
in touch with your trade association.</b> At many annual trade conferences
there are sessions on recruiting conducted by the experts who are there with
lots of information. You can obtain samples of some of those innovative
recruiting tips by visiting the association�s web site in the HR University
section under �HR Forms�. There are many such practical, real life benefits
available to members who take advantage of this great resource and what it
can do for you and your company. </font></li>
</ol>
<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: April 2007</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>
<div align="center">
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
Changing U.S. Workforce</font></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">The
world and everything in it is always changing. Nothing in nature
is stagnant; everything is in motion, all the time. To see where
you are going to be in the future, you need only identify where you
are now and the direction in which you are going. Draw a line
from where you are and extend it through the direction you are going
and you will see where you are going to be. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">So
much is changing in our American workforce that it is worthwhile to
occasionally look at some those changes we can identify and get a
glance at where we might be. A recently published research by
two Southern California professors, James O�Toole and Ed Lawler entitled
�Work In America� compares the workforce of the early 1970s with today�s
workforce. The authors conducted a similar study in 1973 and
have compared the results.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><b> </b></p>
<div align="left">
<table border="0" width="94%" id="table21" cellpadding="2">
<tr>
<td width="68" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><b>1973</b></i></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>Most
workers were caucasian, male and working for the employer they
intended to be with for life. One third of all women were secretaries.</i></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="68" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font size="5">2006</font></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Women
make up the majority of the workforce and in at least 5 states
Caucasians are in the minority. 70% of all new entrants into
the workforce are women, minorities and immigrants. Women make
up more than half of all supervisors, all new nusiness owners
and college graduates. </font>
<hr>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="68" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><b>1973</b></i></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>The
majority of all workers surveyed said that they�re jobs were
�dull, repetitive, seemingly meaningless tasks offering little
challenge� and �are causing discontent among workers of all
levels�</i></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="68" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font size="5">2006</font></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">In
direct contrast to media reports of employee dissatisfaction,
90% of workers report that they are happy or satisfied with
their jobs. Most of the tedious , dull tasks have been automated
or outsourced. Most employees actually state that they are now
happier with their jobs than with their personal lives. A major
part of this increased satisfaction is because women and minorities
have made high strides in career opportunities and pay. </font>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Their
research leads them to believe that the longer hours most
workers put in are actually because they like their jobs and
are more focused on the development, social interactions and
rewards of their work than on family, hobbies or personal
health. Also e-mail and other modern technology has made it
easier to take their work with them.</font></p>
<hr>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="68" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><b>1973</b></i></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>Companies
intended to keep their employees forever so they trained them
broadly. They may provide tuition aid for almost any type of
education. They offered more complete benefit packages providing
full medical coverage. They recognized longer years of service
and rewarded that as �loyalty�. Retirement plans had a guaranteed
amount at retirement. It was not a very large retirement but
it was guaranteed.</i></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="68" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font size="5">2006</font></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">After
the explosion of technical knowledge in 1981, employees became
more loyal to their technology and careers as the best trained
among them found that their earnings increased tremendously
as they moved on to companies that were more technologically
advanced. Today most companies know if . they train employees
in skills and knowledge outside the companies needs, they�re
more likely to lose them sooner. </font>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Also
today companies are more likely to base pay on performance.
Bonuses Profit sharing and stock ownership plans are tied
to results. And guaranteed retirement amounts have pretty
much been replaced by 401 (k) and savings retirement plans,
which have the potential to make retirees millionaires. </font></p>
<hr>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="68" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><b>1973</b></i></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>1973
Unions represented about 25 percent of all U.S. Workers. This
was down from about 35 percent in the late 1940s. The big union
hammers were safety, benefits, job protection and wages</i></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="68" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font size="5">2006</font></b></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2006
Unions today represent about 8 percent of the private industry
workforce and that number continues to go down nationally. As
the government laws that unions demanded resulted in the government
taking most of the control over safety, Benefits, job protection
and wages. The only segment of the American workforce where
union membership is growing is in government workers. As the
number of government workers increases at all levels (federal,
state, county and municipal) so does that segment of union membership.
</font>
<hr>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:60.0pt"> </p>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table17" cellpadding="2" height="102" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top" height="78">
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�If your
dream is a big dream, and if you want your life to work on the
high level that you say you do, then there�s no way around doing
the work it takes to get there�</font></b></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i>-Joyce
Chapman</i></b></font></h3>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h1 align="center" style="text-align:center"> </h1>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Changes
In The World Workforce </font></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Beyond
the research cited above, there are other changes of interest in today�s
global workforce. Here are a few examples:</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>Paid
Leave for Dogs </u></font></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">In
the United Kingdom there is a growing trend toward paid time off to
tend to your pets.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>Immigrants
<i>to</i> Ireland?</u></font></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Faced
with a booming economy and low unemployment, Ireland will issue its
first green cards to attract workers to their industries such as construction,
health care and financial services. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>Maybe
They Don�t Talk Very Well</u></font></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Job
cuts in the media were up 88 percent in 2006. This trend is
expected to continue. Actually the heaviest cuts were in the
print media as media organizations shift their focus to electronic
communications, primarily the Internet.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>Alaska
Jobs Going Begging</u></font></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">The
main attraction to moving to Alaska has traditionally been the extremely
high wages. However, as the wage rates and salaries in the lower
48 have, in the last 8 years, risen to meet Alaskan wage rates, that
is no longer a big draw. And as their workforce ages and is
beginning to retire its once premium packages can no longer attract
that relocation.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>America
Slipping?</u></font></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">As
the media is convincing Americans that we are all working too hard
and need more paid time off, earlier retirements and more fun at work,
it appears that we are actually paying attention. Although we
are still one of the world�s top two most productive nations (Australia
passed us up in 2005), our productivity rate began falling behind
in 2006. We were number six on the productivity growth ladder
behind Finland, Japan, Germany, Britain and France. Although we still
were more productive than all of them, their rate of productivity
growth for 2006 surpassed ours.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> </p>
<p>
</div>
<span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<div align="center">
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table19" height="87" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td height="109" valign="top">
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�To become
different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what
we are�</font></b></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i>-Eric
Hoffer</i></b></font></h3>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p> </p>
</div>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center"> <b><font size="5" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Women
Hate Marriage?</font></b></h2>
</span>
<div align="center">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:.5in"><b>
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">As
we seem to be bashing the media this month, let�s finish up here by
putting in one more jab. The media in print and TV reported
excitedly in January that women no longer seemed to want to be married
due to the confined restriction of marriage and the lack of any need
for men in their lives. The announcements were from a study
conducted by The New York Times wherein they reported that 51 percent
of women, as of 2005, have no spouse. They announced that married
couples in the U.S. are now in a minority. They observed that
women are delighting in their newfound freedom. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">The
lengthy article quoted several women who felt that the restrictions
and burdens of family life make it a very undesirable choice for women
today. The report suggested that government laws, public policy
and the American workplace should no longer be designed around the
concept of marriage. Reading the headlines and watching the TV sound
bites seemed to announce a revolution against marriage and family.
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">However,
Thomas Sowell, an economist, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute
and the author of several books on economics and social issues decided
to read the fine print in the study and discovered something that
was not in the sound bites or had been buried in that fine print.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Sowell,
reports that the study included girls from age 16 and up. It
also included women who were widowed and divorced and women whose
husbands were in the military or in prison. At age 16
few girls are married yet. Widowed and divorced women had been
married and many had been so many times. Wives with husbands
in the military and in prison were in fact married. But the
headline �<b>51% of Women Live Without A Spouse</b>� and the first
few quotes from the doomsayers presented a different story.
In reality, Sowell stated, only one fourth of women, including the
16 year olds, have never been married.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Sowell
also pointed out the fallacy of another widely accepted media myth,
that more than half of all marriages end in divorce. Those figures,
he reported are based on the comparison between the number of marriages
and the number of divorces in one specific year. In that year,
there were half as many people who filed for divorced as there were
people who married. That, he stated, has no bearing on the vast
numbers of people who are married and who are divorced. In the
following year, there may well be more people who marry than who file
for divorce. The reality, says Sowell, is that far more marriages
last than end in divorce.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> </p>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table20" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�The family
is the nucleus of civilization�</font></b></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i>-Will
Durant</i></b></font></h3>
</td>
</tr>
</table></div>
<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>January</b></font></u><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>
2006</u></font></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><br>
$16.05</font></td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center"> <b>
<font size="-1"><u>January</u></font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="text-decoration: none"><u>
2007</u></span></font></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u><br>
</u>$17.09</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>January</b></font></u><b><u>
2006</u></b><br>
</font></span>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
$555.33</font>
</td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<b>
<font size="-1"><u>January</u></font><u>
2007</u></b></font></span><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u><br>
</u>$577.64</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">
<div align="left"><b>
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">48.5</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">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><u>
<font size="-1">
January
2006</font></u></b></font></td>
<b>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <u><span style="font-weight:700">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
January
</font></span> </u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>
<b> 2007</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">123,062,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">124,767,000</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">118,075,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
119,767,000</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">5,072,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
5,141,000</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">4.1</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">%</font></p>
</td>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<p><font size="-1">4.1</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>2006</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">3.0%</font></span></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>