Iowa City Press-Citizen from Iowa City, Iowa • Page 12

TT BUSINESS BRIEFCASE J) Page 6B THURSDAY. JULY 2. 1987 Iowa City Press-Citizen Jobless rate falls to decade-low 6.1 The Associated Press WASHINGTON Civilian unemployment fell to 6.1 percent last month, the lowest rate of the decade, as fewer teen-agers than expected sought summer jobs, the government said today. Total employment actually fell by 198,000 last month, the Labor Department said, but the losses were more than offset by a seasonally adjusted decline of nearly 500,000 in the labor force. The drop in the labor force all those at work or actively seeking a job was expected following a May gain of 612,000, which had said was "probably somewhat exaggerated." The number of people listed as officially unemployed also fell last month, down 286,000 to 7,260,000, the lowest adult men during the summer months is far less volatile than for youngsters," Janet L.

Norwood, the commissioner of labor statistics, said in her monthly appearance before the congressional Joint Economic Committee. In contrast, she said, the rate can be quite explosive for those aged 16 to 24. "From April to June, the labor force for this group has risen about 2.6 million before seasonal adjustment considerably less than last year," she said in explaining the large teenage jobless drop. While the overall rate was down as measured by the household survey, a separate survey of business payrolls recorded a meager increase of only 116,000 jobs in June, the lowest of the year. since March 1980.

And the department said the number of "discouraged workers," those who have given up the search for work in the belief a job cannot be found, dropped 130,000 to 1,000,000 in the period of April through June. That is the lowest that number has been since the onset of the 1981-82 recession. The number of discouraged workers had reached a high of 1.8 million at the end of 1982. During the past 12 months, the overall unemployment rate has dropped a full percentage point, from 7.1 percent to 6.1 percent. Several economists had predicted a slight gain in the unemployment rate last month following a 6.3 percent jobless rate in April and May.

Further drops are predicted later in the year. The department attributed virtually all of June's 0.2 percent percentage point drop to the relatively low number of teen-agers entering the job market at the end of the school year. Teen-agers accounted for more than two-thirds of the 484,000 drop in the labor force, and their jobless rate fell almost 2 percentage points to 15.9 percent from 17.7 percent. Unemployment among black teenagers dropped a whopping 5.7 percentage points, to 33.3 percent. The jobless rate among women was also down, off 0.2 percentage point to 5.2 percent, its lowest in 13 years.

Among men, the rate was unchanged at 5.5 percent, still well below the 6 percent that prevailed at the end of 1986. "The labor market experience of m' f- ft 1-1 From staff reports and news services Senate passes bill to help farmers WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate late Wednesday passed the 1987 supplemental appropriations bill containing $5.55 billion for the Com-moditiy Credit Corp. and several other Iowa projects. The bill was later passed by the House and now goes to President Reagan.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee which drafted the bill, said he was pleased that Iowa farmers and elevator owners will finally receive the CCC money which has been delayed several months. "As soon as the president signs this bill, we can truly say to those who have been waiting that the check is in the mail," Harkin said. "I am working to change the system so that in the future, farmers and elevator operators are not left without compensation because the goverment runs out of CCC funds." The bill also contains approximately $19 million for the final phase of the Mississippi River bridge between Dubuque and Wisconsin; the release of $6 million previously authorized for a Center for New Industrial Materials at Iowa State University; $2 million for an International Agricultural Trade Center in Des Moines and Ames; the initial $11 million installment on a special $50 million wastewater treatment facility in Des Moines; and $20 million for Trade Adjustment Assistance, a portion of which will be used for job training for workers at Harnishchfeger Cedar Rapids. Old airport terminal will reopen The old terminal at the Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport will reopen for air cargo operations next week.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to mark the reopening of the terminal that was closed last year when a new terminal was built. Meetings on grain handling set There will be two meetings this month to discuss grain bin fumigation, handling grain spoilage problems and grain aeration. The first meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Masonic Community Center in Belle Plaine.

The second meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. July 8 at the Lamp Community Building in Durant. Topics at the meetings include controlling insects, fumigation of stored grain, spoilage problems, toxins, grain aeration and emergency grain storage. IBP, striking union conduct talks OMAHA, Neb. IBP inc.

and a striking union met Wednesday in an effort to end a six-month-old labor dispute at the company's Dakota City, plant. Two members of the Federal Mediation and Concilation Service met with representatives of IBP and Local 222 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Omaha starting at 1 p.m. CDT. The two sides met only briefly with each other, then adjourned to separate rooms of the hotel to talk about issues still to be resolved. It was the second time company and union officials had met since March 27, when a brief discussion resulted in no agreement.

Dec. 14, IBP locked out 2,800 workers at the company's flagship beef-processing plant after the union rejected a new contract calling for a wage freeze. The wage rate for experienced slaughter workers was $8.20 an hour and for processing workers $7.90 an hour. IBP later revised its offer, reducing wages for slaughter workers to $7.60 an hour and processing wages to $7.45 an hour. IBP announced March 12 that it was ending the lockout.

At a March 15 meeting, Local 222 members rejected the company's revised offer and struck for the fifth time in the past 17 years. Business Briefcase appears every day in the Press-Citizen. The column contains information about area business openings and closings, promotions, appointments and transfers. Send items of interest to: Business Desk, Press-Citizen, Box 2480, Iowa City, 52244. Phone inquiries should be directed to (319) 337-3181.

MHV-v, 'A dumb mistake' Iacocca says disconnecting odometers wrong The Associated Press HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. -Chrysler promised in newspaper ads today to improve warranties on 60,000 vehicles test-driven with odometers unhooked and sold as new in what chairman Lee Iacocca called a dumb practice. Iacocca, in a news conference Wednesday and in the ads, also promised to replace, free of charge, any vehicle damaged in testing but sold as new. The Chrysler Corp. chairman's admissions came a week after a subsidiary and two executives were indicted in St.

Louis on federal charges of odometer fraud for test-driving the vehicles with disconnected odometers in the 18 months ending in January 1987. Iacocca said the charges will be dealt with in court, but the damage to Chrysler's image must be dealt with immediately because the nation's third-largest automaker was being tried first in the "court of public opinion." He called test-driving cars with disconnected odometers dumb and said selling some damaged cars as new "reaches beyond dumb to stupid." U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Dittmeier said in St. Louis that he would not have any direct comment about the The Associated Press ships.

The 3 U.S. carmaker faces federal indictments of altering odometers. The ad will run In publications throughout the country. Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca displays his company's advertisement that explains and apologizes for disconnecting odometers before some cars reached dealer- said. He said owners of those cars will be given comparable new vehicles.

The cost of repairing the 40 damaged cars ranged from $91 to $950, he said. The car that sustained $950 in damage was a Turismo that slid into a ditch, damaging a fender and tire rim, after it hit a puddle, he said. The car was repaired and tested again before it was shipped, he said. Owners of cars tested with discon nected odometers during the period of the indictment, when Chrysler's warranty was five years or 50,000 miles, will be given seven-year, warranties, Iacocca said. The indictment alleged that Chrysler Motor practice of disconnecting odometers during testing and selling the cars as new dated to 1949 and involved millions of cars, but the charges dealt only with the 18 months that began in July 1985.

announcement but added, "This office is always happy to see compensation for victims." An industry analyst said Iacocca's action was a good move. "For Lee Iacocca, it was the right way to go. It is a very positive and wise move," Chris Cedergren of J.D. Power Associates in Westlake Village, said. During the past few years, 72 cars were damaged during testing, and 40 of those were sold as new, Iacocca Toshiba import ban might hurt U.S.

firms The Associated Press NEW YORK The United States might be shooting itself in the foot by banning imports by Toshiba according to some analysts who say such a move could mean thousands of U.S. layoffs and loss of the most modern computer technology. Toshiba employs almost 4,000 people in the United States, only 150 of whom are Japanese nationals, and is the leading supplier of the most advanced computer memory chip, capable of storing 1 million bits of information. The Senate voted 92-5 Tuesday in favor of banning Toshiba and a Norwegian company, Kongsberg Vaapenfa-brikk, from selling nearly any product in the United States for two to five years. The proposed sanctions wouldn't become law unless they are accepted by the House and signed by President Reagan.

Toshiba Corp. Chairman Shoichi Saba and President Sugiichiro Watari resigned Wednesday, hours after the Senate action, which was prompted by sales by Kongsberg and Toshiba Machine a Toshiba subsidiary, to the Soviet Union of propeller-milling equipment that would help Soviet submarines run quieter and be harder to detect. U.S. companies that do business with Toshiba were scrambling Wednesday to find language in the legislation that would let them maintain their business relationships. Among other things, the Senate proposal would exempt products that are deemed critical to defense, as well as spare parts and components "essential to United States production." Negotiators OK FSLIC bailout plan The Associated Press WASHINGTON House and Senate negotiators approved legislation Wednesday that would allow the insolvent Federal Savings Loan Insurance Corp.

to borrow $8.5 billion to try to rescue the thrift industry from bankruptcy. However, Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said he still believes the bill could be vetoed by President Reagan because the White House had proposed a $15 billion bailout. The measure now goes back to the House and Senate for final approval before being sent to the White House. STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST Wednesday closing! Directors prepare first walkout in union's history Kidde 474 -4 Kmart 43 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 Kodak 855 Mapco 544 Mart-Marieta 46 MrshM 62 Maytag 527s MidEng 19's Moore 2ih 4 Navistar 74 -4 PaylCsh 231 4 The Associated Press HOLLYWOOD West Coast directors voted to authorize the first strike in their union's 51-year history.

A spokeswoman said producers were working to avoid a crippling walkout "neither side really wants." At a meeting late Wednesday, an overwhelming number of the 1,500 Directors Guild of America members voted to authorize their national committee to call a strike when it sees fit. A similar vote was scheduled tonight in New York. At the directors' meeting, guild President Gilbert Cates lashed out against the conglomerates that now control many film and television studios. "We will be respected or we will rock the very foundations of those high-rise offices in distant cities," Cates told the members. Cates described the guild's frustration in dealing with "faceless management" and "our anonymous employers," terming it "a struggle for the heart and soul of the entertainment industry." Meanwhile, a strike by 2,800 NBC technicians in six cities continued today for the fourth day with no negotiations scheduled.

ASA 5734 ATT 28I -4 AUdCp 27 1 Alcoa iih even Amoco 86' ArchD 244 even Bandae 65 1 BuriNth 80. Deere 29- Exon 92-4 -1 Gannett 50 -H GenElec 54 GenMot -H Gillette 38 Goodyear 68 Heinz 475 Heritage 33 IBM 164 14 IFG Wt IntstPw 237i even IowaEI 23'ti even Iowalll 42 -Hi JamesRiv 31H 4 24 Penney 52 ProetG 95; QuakOat 51H RaythG 7614 Rockwell 274 4 SaraLee 444 -1 Sears SOh -4 Texaco -4 ThmBet 4 USWest 534 4 WestgEl 62 -14 Winnogo UH -4 Announcing money-saving news for State Farm drivers 50 and over. State Farm's new reduced car insurance rate is saving money for many State Farm Mutual policyholders 50 and over. Call me for details and see if you qualify. Call 354-1400 We are pleased tke appointment of Steve Boyd Douglas R.

Lange William R.Mattaliano as our registered representative in this area Jim Croker JJ 201 1. dK Cartoon voices end walkout The Assoicated Press BURBANK, Calif. Hanna-Barbera, the largest of Hollywood's animation studios, broke ranks with four others and reached a settlement with striking actors who create cartoon voices, a union spokesman said Wednesday. The animation company that produces such cartoons as Yogi Bear's Treasure Hunt, The Jetsons, and The Flintstones, reached agreement during federally mediated talks Tuesday, Screen Actors Guild spokesman Mark Locher said. Report lists leading wine drinkers The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Residents of the District of Columbia drink wine at more than three times the national rate, while people in Arkansas consume the least, a wine trade journal reported Wednesday.

Wine consumption in the nation's capital was 6.59 gallons a person in 1986, compared with a bit more than half a gallon in Arkansas, according to the Journal Wines Vines. The average American drank 2.43 gallons of wine last year, the same as the year before. Dow Jones Averages Industrials 2409.76; Transportationl023.45; Utilities 205.94; .05 Over the Counter Bid Asked NIXS 137s 14H Flexsteel 164 Cycare Stystems 8:,4 9 Caseys Gen'l Stores 15'a 16 Statesman Group 57s 6 United Fire Cas 30U 31 Life Investors 48'4 49'- Bank of Iowa 45's 47 Hawkeye Bancorp 3l PiorTr Hybred Int'l 35-4 36W Allied Group U3 15 HON Ind 16 17W 1A South. Utilities 29 4: 30 Furnished by Dean J. Jarnow, DJIA Financial Services WALL STREET WEDNESDAY: The stock market gave ground in quiet trading Wednesday, beginning the second half of 1987 on a hesitant note.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, down 28.38 Tuesday, dropped another 8.77 to 2,409.76. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange slowed to 157.04 million shares from 165.48 million in the previous session. it Waddell Waddell Reed's Financial Services: Money Accumulation Plans Tax Shelters Mutual Funds Life Insurance Computerized Financial Planning Programs KeoghIRA plans Annuities Money-Market Investments Pension Plans 41 Iowa Stat Bank Building, Iowa City, J1M5MM3 State Farm Mutual Automobile tnauranct Company Home Office Bioorrimgiop. ttlinots.