,
I
,
Durin the fi t week in
ovem r, the "boys on the
come� d dyou
"relevant" thin ning
� by 100 million
American citize the
OO\Dltry to who would run
thi in federal mment
from Washington.
But, the people in the koow
realize that the most relevant
thing how country will
actually run in coming years
the corpo election t oc-
CWTed in York aty the day
before citizens voied, America's
real election economic, and
the vo by the Board of Directors
to woo will nul Ger¥:ral Motors
(OM) next will have major im­
pact on the tiona! eeoromy,
Bill Ointon may be the per­
son in charge 0 the American
government for the next four
years, but any impact he on
the economy will be greatly in­
fluenced by 00w John F. "Jack"
Smith, Jr., fares president and
chief executive officer of OM
Forty-three percent of the people
exiting the polls reported that
their most important concern was
the ecooomy.
General Motors is the nation's
largest corporation, employing
almost a quarter million people
directly, aIX1 t:inaocially coupling
a million more in its supplier and
distribution chain. Minorities
have a stake in how well Smith
does in bringing OM back to
world prominence. Afric n
Americans make up 21> percent of
the total OM employment, aIXl in
1990, the records sbow that OM
purchased $1.1 billion worth of
.,. goods and services from mioority
suppliers who themselves
employ 4O,<XX> people of color,
. .
VE tV MI�ION
Aineri��nting one of
every seven Johr-are employed
in the motor vehicle iOOustry. If
America is going to have the
strongest economy OM's opera­
tiors must be in the lead. As he
takes the helm of the giant com-
. pany, Smith will be responsible
for all of OM's worldwide opera­
tions, including automotive
manufacturing, automotive com-
. ponents, finaInal aIX1 informa­
tion services, am <Sefcme and
electronic sectors.
Smith has developed a
strategy to streamline OM's
money-losing manufacturing
operatiors am reduce the nwn­
ber of overlapping, look-alike
models sold by the company's
five car divisions. He will have to
overcome the $752.9 million
third-quarter loss and the cutting
of the OM stock divideoo to 20
cents a share per quarter.
The company Smith heads­
. had sales am revenues of $29.4
billion in the third quarter m1 put
milliors of chiclcem in �rican
. cooking pots. OM issued rearly
$6 billion worth of stock in the
past 18 months to help CO\'Cr its
operating costs.
The economy depeOOs on the
private sector which makes
products and provides
marlccmble services. The only
things that the government
produces are cose m1 legisla­
tion. The US. auto iOOmtry ac­
Co\Ults for four percent of the
annual gross national product­
over S200 billion.
The auto indmuy represen1s
77 percent of natural rubber
products m114 percent of US.
teel production. In the period
from July to September 1992,
OM's performance in the
marketplace was down, but it still
had factory sales of 1,499,<XX>
vehicle W1i� am its dealers sold
1,1<lS,cm cars and trucks.
Mr. Smith's election by the
Board of Directors, which in­
eludes African American Rev.
Leon Sullivan, will have great
impectonbow big the "American
Pie" will be for all citizens, Black
aOO white. Surely, it is in our best
iJUercst for jobs, dealerships and
supplier opportunities if this pie
star1S to increase. Our eorsumer
ballo� in the form of car pur­
chases aoo financing will be
worth a full 21> percent toward
bringing this company, and
America, to full profitability and
strength.
urrent licy.
WASH1NGTON - The unemploy­
ment rate for Blacks moved up to
13.9 percent in October, compared
to 13.7 percent in September, ac­
cording to the U.S. Department of
Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Unemployment for whites was 6.5
percent in October, down from 6.7
percent in September.
Unemployment for Black men
moved up to 1 .7 percent in Oc­
tober, compared to 13.2 percent in
September. For Black women, the
joble rate was 10.8 percent in Oc­
tober, compared to 10.6 percent in
September.
Black teens had an overall un-
_ employment rate o,f 42.5 percent i _
October, down from 43.3 percent in
September. Black teen men had a
overall unemployment rate of 44.2
percent in October; for Black teen
women, the October unemploy­
ment rate moved down to 40.4 per­
cent in October.
Overall, the nation's job market
in October was little different from
September. The unemployment
rate, 7.4 percent, was little changed
from the prior month's rate of 7.5
percent but has been edging.
, downward from the June high of7.8
percent.
Employment, as measured
through both the household and es­
tablishment surveys, remained at
about the previous month's levels.
UNEMPLOYMENT OF . less
than 15 weeks duration declined in
October, while the number of per-
. sons jobless for longer periods was
essentially unchanged at 3. million.
About 2.1 million workers were
jobless for more than 6 months; that
number had more than 'tripled be­
tween mid-l990 and June of 1992,
but has not risen since .
Among that portion of the total
unemployed classified as job
losers, fewer were expecting to be
recalled and more were permanent
[ob losers. The latter group ac­
counted for an unusually large
share of job losers -77 percent.
The number of persons working
part time even though they would
have preferred full-time work was
6.5 million in October; It has been
as high as 6.7 million and as low as
6.0 million this year, showing no
clear direction.
Persons in this category are
often referred to as the "partially
unemployed," and are working
"part time for economic reasons."
The total number of employed
persons was little changed in Oc:'
tober at 117.6 million. The
employment-population ratio,
which is the percentage of the
working-age population that is
employed, was also little different
from the previous month, at 61.2
percent, but ha been declining
since July. . .
THE CIVILIAN LABOR
ADVERTISE
HERE
CALL
869-0033.
w
force declined by 00,000 to 127.0
minion in October; this occurred
largely among teenager, who e
labor force had shown an increase in
the previous month. After rising
sharply between November 1991
and June of this year-2.2 mil­
lion-the labor force has since
decreased by 600,000. This rising
participation rate has declined six­
tenths of a percentage point over
this 4-month span.
Nonfarm payroll employment
was virtually unchanged in October.
Gains in construction and several
service sector industries were offset
by further losses in manufacturing
and a decline in gove t . obs.
lim! tin or rnfnimizin cer-
in t of optio I covera can
help you ave too. For empIe, If
you h ve high limiton your he lth
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B 'rg In B
m nt
Finally, when hopping for car
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CIuJrl RMI it tIN ,._, 0/ dw NIIIUM­
tilly ,ryMk.,.tl NJtIio p'ov- -Yow P.,­
$0IUIl Pi1UllM.- Mil tIIIdto,. 0/ dw TIN B.$I
01 Yow P.noNJl PUu:mc •.
roj on II ican
opl in t e Indu trial Ag
At Fir t of Am rica, we're al 0 interested it) the
kinds 'of denominations that
nrich lives. Because we believe
churches playa key role in making
our communities healthier, more
table places to live. That's why
Wi worked with the Greater
Rc.errnd Cul/KJn IMI, Concord M i ionary Baptist
reour Con ord local
,if I slOna�1 Bap(lj( hu h Church to assi t pastors in
tting up n nprofit hou ing corporations. To date,
w 'v h Ip d 21 D troit church do ju t that.
II
ANN ARBO -The University of Michigan Center
for AfroAmerican and African Studies has received
a S249,500 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to
provide postdoctoral fellow hip for cholars in the
humani ties to work on the theme of " African People
in the Industrial Age." .
"Structural changes in the global economy have
long linked African peoples, but studies of racism,
colonialism, imperialism and cultural production
have been insufficiently tied together and concep­
tualized," according to U-M Prof. Earl Lewis, direc­
tor of the Center.
"A group of faculty members at the U-M has
established a program to examine how these issues
have shaped expectations, opportunities and
decisions among Africans and people of African
descent throughout the diaspora."
The grant will support a total of six postdoctoral
fellowships over the next four years. The fellow
will be involved with U-M faculty members and
students in a conference to be held in the fall of 1993,
a year-long graduate eminar to be taught in 1993-94
and alternate years thereafter, and in an annual
review of cholarship on the subject of "Africans in
the Ind trial Age "
Lewi say he expects the projects to last for at
least five years. "We're focusing on the intersection
of 'industry,' 'modernity' and 'the urban,' and ex­
ploring the influence of industrial capitalism on the
construction and reconstruction of race on an inter­
national level. "
Areas examined in the project will include Africa,
the United States, parts of Brazil and the Caribbean,
Lewis note. In addition to the emphasis on the
influence of the rise of industrial capitali m, the
project wi1llook at "how cultural encounte� in one
instance haped the way problems were posed in
others," and comparative studies of institutional,
ideological and cultural changes.
Candidates for the fellOWShip should contact the
Center for Afroamerican and African Studies at
(313) 764-9510 for more information.
/
A BIG BA K SHOULDN'T
. DEAL ONLY IN
LARGE DENOMINATIONS.
You see, we're concerned about making the
Detroit area an even better place to live. So we
carefully reinvest th fund you deposit with us
back into the community.
That way, everyone benefits. Regard of
their denomination.
"First of America Bank-Southeast Michigan has
made a tremendous difference in the Detroit community,
particularly in workiny with our churches. Very simply
stated, no other ftnan� institution has done more for
Detroit churches than First of America."
- P.rvcrrnd Cui/ian Hill
. Jt mbe, FDt .
o f 11{�1 Al\ll {leA
I:q / Hoo ing I cnckr. Gl