The-Michigan Daily
Vol. xci, No. 10-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Tuesday, May 19, 1981 Sixteen Pages
Unemployment bits state
WASHINGTON (UPI) -Four
Michigan cities, hard hit by job losses
in the auto industry, were among the
top 10 major metropolitan areas with
r the highest unemployment rates in the
nation, the Labor Department reported
yesterday.
Flint had the second worst unem-
ployment rate in the nation at 16.5 per-
cent in March. Also among the top 10
were Bay City and Muskegon, tied for
fifth place at 14.9 percent, and Detroit
in ninth place at 13:4 percent.
THE REST OF American isn't doing
very well, either, according to the
government. Personal income rose only
0.6 percent in April-the lowegt since
June-while personal spending slipped
sharply to a 0.2 percent increase, the
Commerce Department reported.
The department also said housing
listin ato
starts-the closely watched barometer ding rate from 19 to 20 percent-a
of the construction industry-rose by return to the high levels that prevailed
4.2 percent in April, with all the in- a at the beginning of theyear.
crease accounted for by single family
houses. Construction had risen 6 per- BANKERS SAID yesterday's prime
cent in March, up from February's rate increase reflected the recent rise
record drop of 26.8 percent. in other interest rates, which determine
Also on the economic front, Morgan the banks' own cost of funds and which
Guaranty, the nation's fifth largest have been under pressure from con-
bank, yesterday boosted its prime len- tinued strong loan demand and the
recent surge in the nation's money sup-
ply
The Commerce Department said the
increase in personal income stood at an
annually compounded rate of 7.4 per-
cent.
Despite that modest size, the nation's
pay raise for April almost caught up
with the inflation rate-measured at 7.5
percent annually in the Consumer Price
Index for March. April's CPI figures
are to be announcedFriday.
TOTAL PERSONAL income in-
creased $13.2 billion in April, to a
seasonally adjusted annual income for
all Americans of $2.4 trillion.
Wages and salaries increased only
$3.1 billion last month, compared with
$8.9 billion in March. After taxes,
disposablepersonal income increased
0.6 percent-down from the March in-
crease of 0.9 percent.
Perhaps most significant was the
small increase in personal consumption
expenditures to $3.3 billion. This was
less than one-quarter of the March in-
crease, and while in line with Reagan
administration goals, signaled a
general economic slowdown.
"IT SEEMS TO mean that the con-
sumer sector has gone flat for the last
three months," said.William Cox, ac-
ting chief economist of the Commerce
Department, and spending after in-
flation is subtracted appears "to be
somewhat down in April."
A sharp decline in consumer spen-
ding ushered in last year's recession.
"The plunge in spending on
automobiles was not fully offset in real
terms by increases in spending on other
goods and services," Cox said, noting
that durable goods purchases in
April-including autos-showed an $11
billion decline.
DAVE ERNST, economist for the
private forecasting firm Evans
Economics, said personal spending
dipped because rebate promotions
spurred auto buyers to make their pur-
chases in March.
The flip side of the decline in spen-
ding was the bit of good news for the
savings rate, up on the average for the
past three months by 0:3 percent to 5
percent.
"Daily P oto Dy mt ' "'
I I V a king a point
SECRETARY OF STATE Alexander Haig, speaking at Hillsdale College Saturday, reiterates the Reagan ad-
ministration's firm anti-Soviet line and once again called for a stronger national defense. See story, Page 3.
Anti-rape
measures
presented
By LOU FINTOR
Representatives of the Ann Arbor Anti-Rape
Coalition presented City Council with petitions
bearing more than 350 signatures yesterday in an at-
tempt to gain approximately $3,000 in additional fun-
ds for the Crime Prevention Unit of the Ann Arbor
Police Department.
The petitions were collected by the coalition at the
recent "Take Back the Night" march designed to
raise community awareness of rape. More than 1,500
people joined in the march.
ORGANIZERS hope to:
" Establish an effective crime prevention unit with
special emphasis on rape prevention.
" Improve night transportation.
" Print detailed and factual (not sensationalized)
reports of rapes in local newspapers.
" Publish a spot map showing incidence of rape
quarterly.
" Incorporate self-defense training into the primary
and secondary schools.
" Establish community men's and women's task
forces to oversee the above projects as well as others
such as better lighting and improved campus
security.
MARCIA WALLIN, a representative of the Anti-
Rape Coalition, told the Council she wanted the ex-
panded crime prevention unit to include "women,
children in homes, and men who's lives have been
touched on all sides" by the problems of sexual
assault.
See ANTI-RAPE, Page 13