The unemployment rate gets most of the attention, but the monthly jobs report contains lots of other data that can provide a fuller picture of the economy.
Simply being out of work isn’t enough for a person to be counted as unemployed; he or she also has to be available to work and actively looking for work (or on temporary layoff). In any given month, the unemployment rate can rise or fall based not just on how many people find or lose jobs, but on how many join or leave the active labor force.
Munis, as they’re known, enable a state, county, city, housing authority or other local government to raise money for public projects — usually infrastructure. But unlike the bonds private firms sell to raise cash, the interest is free from federal income tax, meaning, in effect, that munis are federally subsidized. They are also often exempt from local taxes. These tax benefits allow issuers (also known as borrowers) to attract investors at lower rates; in financial parlance, it makes borrowing cheaper for local governments.
As part of newspaper in Education offerings, author Janie Lancaster has written a historical fiction serial story of Opal Fleming and how, as a small girl in the 1930s, learning American Sign Language opened up a whole new world for her. How her new language made her feel equal to others and not left out and in a dark lonely world.
Opal’s resilient spirit overcame so much in her lifetime. She became a well educated, dignified person loved by so many. For 20 years she was a teacher’s aide at the North Carolina School for the Deaf. She died in 2003.
The Texas Gulf Coast Press Association honored Hall of Fame inductees the 2017 annual convention held in May at the Holiday Inn Resort in Galveston.
Inducted into the TGCPA Hall of Fame were Adair and the late Merle Luker, of the Vidor Vidorian, Greg Peak, Polk County Enterprise, and Chad Ferguson, Banner-Press Newspaper, Columbus.
Ramona ‘Bebo’ Ferguson received a plaque commemorating her year as president as she and other 2016-17 officers completed their terms.
Recently announced staff changes and promotions at Texas newspapers.
Q: Is it O.K. for a photographer to use a drone to photograph the city’s Fourth of July fireworks event and then send us the photos to publish?
To be sure, that question is top of mind with some TPA members and staff. TPA’s Legislative Advisory Committee is busy monitoring the current special session of the Legislature to fight any bill that harms the interests of Texas newspapers.
In a challenging environment with fewer resources, greater vulnerabilities and increasing attacks from politicians and the politically motivated, how should news organizations respond? One editor-publisher's approach — a calm, respectful but strong defense of journalism and its essential role in democracy — seems to work.
I continue to get calls and emails on sampling non-subscribers. This rewrite will attempt to draw a sharper line between the two confusing rules that govern non-subscriber copy mailing.
The non-subscriber rules in the Domestic Mail Manual are there to allow you to promote your newspaper to non-subscribers and increase your mail delivery. Too many papers fail to use this tactic, but more are showing interest as newspapers struggle to attract readers and advertisers.