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<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Top 10 Hiring Mistakes</font></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">As we look ahead into the
amazing possibilities of this new year of 2009, we might pause to look at the
opportunities we had in 2008 and to consider if we used them wisely. As we saw
many industries and communities hit with failing economics, we also saw many
examples of companies turning those hard times into opportunities. One example
of that occurred in many Green Industry companies. When the difficulty of
obtaining H2B employees became a mushrooming dilemma, many companies found that
they had to revert to hard core recruiting to make up for that loss of good
workers. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">As they quickly mobilized to
expand their recruiting programs they also began to re-evaluate the
effectiveness of their former recruiting efforts. At PLANET�s GIC meeting in
October, one hot topic was focused on how the professional recruiters do this.
In addition to showing how the experts do it, they also told us about the
mistakes most companies make in their hiring process. Here are the top 10
mistakes they told us about.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>1: Not doing reference
checking.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">No matter how impressive the
candidate, you need to conduct some due diligence. This is not only good
business sense but not doing so can have legal implications. If this candidate
has a history of violence that was easily discoverable, you could face some
future liability. And what if this candidate didn�t even work for the companies
he listed? Check references!</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>2: Being overly influenced
by degrees and titles.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">Candidates who have earned
degrees have created a good set of tools to take into the world of work. But
there is no substitute for successful experience. People often make the mistake
of overlooking candidates with track records but not degrees. Of course this
does not apply for professions where degrees are required.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>3: Not having a long range
plan.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">Hiring someone to fill a
current need may help you through a busy time but unless you�re hiring someone
on a temporary basis, you need a long-range plan for this employee. How will he
be developed? What chance for growth and improved skill training over the next
two to five years? How does she fit in with your company�s long-range plan?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana"><b><font size="4">4: Making promises
you can�t keep.</font></b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">It can be a very costly
mistake to make promises that are not well thought out. Offering what you�re
planning to provide later may develop into a promise you are not able to keep.
Know ahead of time what you can and cannot offer.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>5: Hiring someone for all
the wrong reasons.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">Unfortunately, this is an all
too common mistake. Whether you�re doing your cousin a favor or are just
�wowed� by how nice someone is at the interview should not be your reason to
hire. Your reason to hire should be because you have found someone who is
functionally qualified to do the job you are now filling. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>6: Not conducting a good
interview.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana"><font size="2">Conducting a good hire
interview is a skill that many people simply do not posses. It�s important to
be organized and focused on the qualifications you are seeking. You should learn
how to question, probe, analyze and have a good �baloney detector�. Effective
interviewing is a valuable skill you should learn.</font><b><font size="2"> </font><span style="font-size:16.0pt">
</span></b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>7: Not looking for a good
fit.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">In most businesses there
needs to be a good rapport among employees. There are few vacancies for a �lone
wolf�. If you hire someone who just cannot �fit�, you, the candidate and the
employees will pay the price. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>8: Not using offer
letters.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">Verbal hiring understandings
often end up misunderstood. �Did you say I <i>can</i> work overtime or that I <i>
must</i> work overtime?� �Do I get a vacation <i>during</i> my first year or <i>
after</i> my first year?� Make your offer letter a statement of what you are
offering. It is not an agreement to be signed by the employee. (That can make
it a contract that negates your employment at will rights.) Also, there are
very few jobs that require an employment contract, use the offer letter instead.
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>9: Not being prepared.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">�Winging it� on your
conversational intuition is a big hiring mistake. You should be using a
check-off list and evaluation criteria that honestly evaluates this candidate
for the job you are filling. Have a prepared set of questions, rehearse them
and know what kind of answers you are looking for.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="4"><b>10: Expecting way too
much.</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana" size="2">A common problem is looking
for one person who can save a sinking ship. We create that unrealistic and long
list of requirements as frequently seen in ads. This often creates a situation
whereby you hire someone who can do a little bit of everything but does not
excel in your key areas. Not every item on your �wish list� is of equal
importance. Narrow your focus on the most important aspects of this position.</font></p>
<span style="font-family: Verdana"><font size="2">If we can grow our businesses
in 2009, we will need to know a lot more about how to recruit, interview and
hire good people who can become long-term allies and partners. One good start
might be to first learn what not to do.</font></span><p> </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: February 200</font></b></font><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4" color="#FF0000">9</font></b></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="2454">
<tr valign="top">
<td width="100%" height="2438" align="left">
<blockquote>
<div align="center">
<div align="left">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center"><b>
<span style="font-family: Verdana"><font size="5">UNEMPLOYMENT HITS
MEN HARDER</font></span></b></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">Last week�s data shows that the
unemployment rate for men is higher (7.2%) than women (5.9%). Why
is that?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">Because the layoffs have been
mostly in jobs dominated by men: construction and manufacturing,
while industries dominated by women, health care and education are
in high demand with shortages. In addition, more women have jobs
that are part-time with no benefits. Being less expensive, they
often keep their jobs while the men who are in full-time jobs with
benefits are more tempting targets in lay-offs.</span></p>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table17" cellpadding="2" height="102" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top" height="85">
<div style="mso-element: para-border-div; mso-border-top-alt: solid #A7BFDE .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #A7BFDE .5pt; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: 1.0pt solid #A7BFDE; border-bottom: 1.0pt solid #A7BFDE; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 10.0pt; padding-bottom: 10.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; border: medium none; padding: 0in">
<font face="Verdana"><b>�Whether you believe you can do
a thing or not, <br>
you are right.�</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align: right; border: medium none; padding: 0in">
<font face="Verdana"><i>Henry Ford</i></font></div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center"><b>
<span style="font-family: Verdana"><font size="5">ONE MISTAKE
TRIGERS 30% OF ALL IRS AUDITS</font></span></b></p>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: Verdana">(And then they
turn you in for a DOL audit.)</span><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">It�s that Independent Contractor
thing again. Employers are often tempted to classify an employee as
an independent contractor (IC) because it saves them money and often
the employee/IC makes more as well. An independent contractor (IC)
can bid a total sum for the weeks work he is doing (and that figure
might be higher than his normal pay for a week) and the employer
doesn�t have to pay all that taxes, benefits, unemployment etc. And
often the IC doesn�t either. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">IRS says the red flag for them
was that the number of companies using ICs keeps going up every
year. So they�re taking the following actions:</span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in" align="left">
<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7.0pt; font-family: Verdana"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana">Increasing
audits by an additional 30% for IC claims </span></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">Presenting a new bill to
congress (The Taxpayer Responsibility, Accounting and
Consistency Act - TRAC) which will toughen the penalties.</span></li>
</ul>
<p align="left">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: Verdana">In addition,
11 states are following suits and have, or are considering, enacting
similar laws. Those states are CA, CT, MA, MN, NE, NH, NJ, NY, PA,
RI, and UT. </span></p>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table19" cellpadding="2" height="102" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top" height="85">
<p align="center"><b><font face="Verdana">"A ship in harbor
is safe,<br>
But that is not what ships are built for"</font></b></p>
<p align="right"><i><font face="Verdana">John Shedd</font></i></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b><span style="font-family: Verdana"><font size="5">400 ADA
LAWSUITS�BY ONE MAN!</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">We�re not saying that you should
refuse to hire Jerek Moleski if he applies for a job at your place,
but if you do, you�d better get lawyered-up. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">Moleski age 38 was injured in a
motorcycle accident nearly 20 years ago and is confined to a
wheelchair. But that doesn�t stop him from making hundreds of trips
to California courtrooms to file about 400 individual lawsuits using
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against businesses that
don�t follow disability-access regulations to his satisfaction. The
fines can run as high as $4,000 a day. So the owners are faced with
three possibilities: </span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">Settle with Moloski out of
court</span></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">Pay for the renovations</span></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .5in" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">Pay the fines.</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">Court records show that most
companies settle with Moleski out of court. But all that may be
coming to an end. One federal judge has barred Moleski from filing
any more lawsuits in the Central District of California. And the
U.S. Supreme court recently denied Moleski�s appeal to hear his suit
which he previously lost, against a Chinese restaurant. He�s a hero
to some and a scam artist scamming the system to others.</span></p>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table20" cellpadding="2" height="102" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top" height="85">
<p align="center"><b><font face="Verdana">"Put a grain of
boldness in everything<br>
you do"</font></b></p>
<p align="right"><i><font face="Verdana">Baltasar Cracian</font></i></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center"><b>
<span style="font-family: Verdana"><font size="5">EEOC, CATCHING AND
GETTING CAUGHT</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">While 60% of surveyed companies
say they are planning layoffs this year, the number of lawsuits for
wrongful terminations has increased 35%! An increase of 25% in wage
and overtime suits was also reported as was a 16% increase in
pensions and benefits suits all related to layoffs. The Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is involved in most of
these cases and they�re getting pretty busy. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana">But in a related court case, EEOC
has been ordered to pay $225, 000 in attorney�s fees and costs to
reimburse a company EEOC had relentlessly pursued for an ADA
charge. The court ruled that there was no validity to the charge
and that EEOC had failed to investigate the matter or to attempt in
a good faith manner, to reconcile the charge. The court wrote that
EEOC �abandoned its duties and pursued a groundless action with
exorbitant demands�.</span></p>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table18" cellpadding="2" height="102" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top" height="85">
<p align="center"><b><font face="Verdana">"Nothing would be
done at all if a man waited till he<br>
could do it so well that no one could find fault with it"</font></b></p>
<p align="right"><i><font face="Verdana">Captain John Henry
Newman</font></i></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="47%">
<tr>
<td width="37%" 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>Federal Minimum Wage:</b></font></p>
</div>
</td>
<center>
<td width="61%" valign="top">
<h3 align="left"><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">$6.55/hr. </font></h3>
<p align="left"><i><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Increases
to $7.25 on 7/24/09</font></i>
</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"> <b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>
December
2007</u></font></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><br>
$17.70</font></td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<u><font size="-1"><b>December</b></font></u><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="text-decoration: none"><u>
200</u></span></font></b><u><font size="-1"><b>8</b></font></u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u><br>
</u>$18.</font><font size="-1">36</font></td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<u><font size="-1"><b>December</b></font></u><span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b><u>
2007</u></b><br>
</font>
</span> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
$598.</font><font size="-1">26</font></td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><b>
<u>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
December
</font>
</u></b>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<b><u>
2008</u></b></font></span><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u><br>
</u>$611.</font><font size="-1">39</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">$10,400</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>
$21,200</font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<hr noshade color="#000000">
</font>
<table border="0" width="100%">
<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>
<td width="63%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1">
<div align="left"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>January
1, 2009, IRS mileage allowance:</u><br><br>Business Purposes: 55 cents per mile<br>Medical or Moving Purposes: 24 cents per mile<br>Charitable Purposes: 14 cents per mile</font></b></div>
</td>
</center>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr>
<td width="37%" 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>
</center>
<td width="63%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="37%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">1 oz.</font></td>
<td width="63%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">.42</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="37%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Each additional ounce</font></td>
<td width="63%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2
oz. .27</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="37%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><i>Postcards</i></font></td>
<td width="63%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">.27</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">305
Million</font>
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>One
birth every 7 seconds<br>
One death every 13 seconds<br>
One new immigrant every 29 seconds<br>
Net gain = 1 person every 9 seconds</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">
December
2007</font></u></b></font></td>
<b>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<b><u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
December
</font> </u></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>
<b> 2008</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">
153,836,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">154,447,000</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">145,294,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
143,338,000</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">8,784,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
11,108,000</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 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">5.7%</font></p>
</td>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<p><font size="-1">7</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">.2%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<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>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<span style="text-decoration: none"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>2007</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1.9%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"> <span style="text-decoration: none"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
200</b></font></span><font size="-1"><b>8 1st Quarter</b></font></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 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<b>
200</b><font size="-1"><b>8 2nd Quarter</b></font></font></span></td>
<td width="68%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">+3.6%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"> <span style="text-decoration: none"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
200</b></font></span><font size="-1"><b>8 3rd Quarter</b></font></td>
<td width="68%">
<span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">+1.3%</font></span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</font></span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><font face="Verdana" size="2">� William J. Cook</font></p>
</body>
</html>