Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 47

ECD u4 Bull Star-Telegram 1E3 Saturday August 2 1986 Texastinemployment Texas jobless rate falls to 441 7 But drop doesn't mean better times ahead economists warn JOBLESS Month January February March April May June July August September October November 64 67 69 67 69 71 72 80 70 71percent 71percent December 70 said Even the May-July average stood at 96 percent Santangelo said Long and Santangelo agreed that Texans should not overplay July's drop in the numbers as a cause for optimism The state's major economic indicators point to continued high unemployment for the rest of 1986 and probably well into 1987 Long said "This drop is not a sign of dramatic improvement in the Texas economy just like the rise from January to February didn't signal as rapid a deterioration in the economy as the numbers would suggest" Long said He was referring to the leap from 64 percent in January to 84 percent in February At that time economists for both the government and private sectors expressed doubts in the accuracy of the individual monthly numbers "We can argue all the day whether the numbers are accurate" Santangelo said "But whether the number is 8 9 or 10 percent the unemployment rate is still very high" For example the 87 percent rate means 126000 additional Texans are without jobs than a year ago in July when the rate was still a relatively high 72 percent he said About half the change in Texas unemployment in July could be attributed to error in survey sampling and statistical methods Santangelo said A one-month dip does not make a trend he said A margin of error exists for any statistics deriv from sampling information from a small portion of the population and projecting the findings on the entire population But that margin is wider for statewide data than for the nation's numbers he said "There is no way of knowing if there is an error" Santangelo added "Averaging smooths out the variability" in the numbers So far there have been no strong moves to create new jobs in any sector of the state's economy at least Press reported A rebound in construction activity helped create 210000 new jobs nationwide in July But contrary to the July decrease in unemployment the Texas construction job market weakened as ripple effects continued from oil price declines and other economic problems said William Long an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas If the statewide figures are correct the number of jobless Texans decreased by 139000 from June to July leaving about 707000 people out of work and looking for jobs said Nic Santangelo the Bureau of Labor Statistics' regional economist in Dallas Looking at three-month averages Santangelo said the state has posted an unwavering increase in unemployment since the third quarter of 1984 The rate averaged 57 percent in third quarter 1984 then grew to 96 percent in second quarter 1986 he NOTE: The data are adjusted for seasonal variations SOURCE: US Bureau of Labor Statistics By WORTII WREN JR StarTelegram Writer Texas unemployment fell in July to 87 percent from the record 105 percent in June the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday But the sharp drop may offer no real cause for rejoicing Economists warned that the numbers may be misleading because the state's economy didn't improve enough in one month to push joblessness down by 18 percentage points In an economy with a work force of more than 8 million people such a one-month change is unbelievably large said a Federal Reserve Bank economist While the official Texas rate fell below 9 percent the nation's civilian unemployment rate dropped 02 percentage point to 69 percent last month the Labor Department said It was only the third time in Ronald Reagan's five-year presidency that the rate has fallen through the 7 percent level The Associated USX union 0 remaining far apart By MICHAEL HIRSH Associated Press PITTSBURGH A work stoppage described as "economic war" between the United Steelworkers union and USX Corp began Friday as thousands of workers formed picket lines in what many expected would be a long bitter dispute "Strikes and work stoppages do Automakers won't feel work stoppage's pinch Page 12 not last long if it's over nickels and dimes" said union spokesman Gary Hubbard "but if it's over principles they have great durability" The sides said no talks were held Friday and none were scheduled The impasse is being called a strike by USX but was deemed a lockout by the union after chief company negotiator Bruce Johnston rejected an Ilth-hour union proposal to extend talks under the old contract That contract expired midnight Thursday Grim-faced workers many holding picket signs on which the word strike was painted over to read lockout stood outside closed gates at 16 USX mills in Chicago Gary Ind Lorain Ohio Fairfield Ala and five other states "Ain't nobody going to win" said Charles Bouyer a grievance committee representative for USW Local 1013 at the Fairfield Works "Both sides are going to lose" The stoppage the first against the former US Steel Corp since a 119- day strike in 1959 came after seven-week talks failed to produce a single agreement on any key contract element Hubbard said The dispute which affects less )1 060 'i km-L'! if Id stpolwolitts Lnfted 1 I zi 4 114 1 40i g4 1 4 i' '4 t--? 01 '4 0C 1': 0 i W''''''' Of America P--- () i x' li 44 41-! LOCKED i- I 1 KED 5 -'1---- t0- UT JT LOCKED 4 'I -1' Ae-31 1 I ri 1 '4 0- OUT --v- I 1 1 0 1t v03 4c1 io 041 ---) 4-- t'i '51 14 4: e- 5: '----A 4 i -11 'I tt-''' oo tk- 1 -1 I 40 ii4 -17 i f--1 1 --A 03- e- fl A 6: 1eli 1 wf '''''''4 it i ----c-: r-k f' 41 it -14 I-7--74: ::11 -or I A i i i 1 il i''' l'4' l''''''''' 1' I -N 4 i 4 I 1 rea' 1 ft 0- 4 i 1 1 5: 11 1: sii41' '4 1 1 Noel 4- o- 1 e' ''f' 444-401 I 1 ik 'ss-4oe'c'' :0 if -4 ZNt 11Ps'tl 1 I 1 1 I r) 1 P'- '''''k i- 41 7 44 -----'-'---144 I- 9 i 4 1 LOCKED 1 il' '4f3 H- 1 All 4 iti OU f44 1 't 1: r-- ii4: 4'- 0 sTta: lain 9 v- c) I 1 sr 1 '''44 Of AMEIPti Att tid ig tiN I 1'1 United Stetiwcav of America 88 9 9'4 4 4'4 --IttIrrt) STEaWIALEAS imEnti Aft 00 not strong enough to offset the plunge in jobs resulting from lower oil prices the agricultural recession high-level imports of electronics and other goods and the depressed Mexican border economy Santangelo said Long and Santangelo agreed the Associated Press trucks in front of the main gate of the USX's Minntac taconite plant to blockade the entrance to supervisory workers "We usually let salaried people in but this time it's different" said picket captain Barry Rosier RATES 1985 1986 percent 64 percent percent 84 percent percent 81 percent percent 85 percent percent 96 percent percent 105 percent percent 87 percent percent percent percent Star-Tologram July decrease may signal a leveling' off of the jobless rate but even that assumption may be too optimistic they said The state is still losing jobs as the layoffs from energy companies ripple across other economic segments Please see on Page 13 Stocks of banks spurt up Wall Street turns bullish on Texas By DAN PILLER Star-Telegram Writer Wall Street turned bullish on Texas bank stocks Friday in hopes they may be takeover candidates if the Legislature votes to allow interstate banking The Legislature is to meet in special session beginning Wednesday and expectations are growing that lawmakers will consider a bill that would allow out-of-state banks to buy Texas banks House Speaker Gib Lewis of Fort Worth said Gov Mark White told him Friday he would open the special session to consideration of an interstate banking bill "I hope I'm not speaking out of school" Lewis said "We talked about that for quite some time" White flew to Fort Worth to meet with Lewis Friday morning He would not comment directly to the Star-Telegram about the banking legislation He has insisted that the Legislature solve the problem of the state's $35 billion budget deficit before it takes up the banking bill Texas American Bancshares Inc of Fort Worth owner of the city's largest bank was the fourth-leading gainer on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday and led all other Texas banks in the rally Texas American with assets of $04 billion and 35 subsidiary banks throughout Texas has long been considered one of the prime takeover candidates should Texas drop its barriers to out-of-state banks Please see Wall on Page 12 even further world needs according to most industry estimates "They've been shoving so much oil into the marketplace that it has been absorbed into what would have been bought in September or October" said Scott Jonesan energy analyst at Chase Econometrics an economic forecasting company in Bala Cynwyd Pa As a result he said "we're looking for a gasoline price decline of 10 cents to 15 cents by the end of the year It hasn't been that low since the 1960s" The average price of unleaded gasoline throughout the country "will move down to 80 cents maybe a little below which means Please see Gasoline on Page 13 Ik) 1 'vs' II I 1 7--i i "5-' tecAL Steelworkers chant 'We wanta work' outside main gate at USX plant in Morrisville Pa tat including nearly 23000 previously laid off by USX on sick leave or otherwise not working to join in the picketing Hubbard said In Mountain Iron Minn picketers of the 1300-member USW Local 1938 parked cars and pickup OPEC panel talks over lowered quotas Bass leading group buying up Taft shares overall voluntary cut of nearly 10 he is "not that optimistic" that percent of its current output OPEC ministers will be able to The ministers postponed Fri- overcome obstacles to setting new day's full session until Saturday formal national oil output quotas when they will learn whether the at the cartel's current meeting committee had made any prog- "There is no agreement on anyrial ress said OPEC spokesman James thing" Oteiba said Audi' Iraq's oil minister Qassem Taki Audu declined to say if the com- confirmed that the committee mittee was making any headway had excluded Iran and Iraq from in difficult negotiations over quo- its deliberations on quotas The tas two warring rivals are completely He said the five-man committee at odds over quotas and Taki re-and was continuing to meet individu- iterated that Iraq was not willing ally with ministers in an attempt to comprimise to forge a binding accord on lower Taki said however that he had quotas under guidelines set by a met with the committee and that compromise Algerian proposal he had suggested that under new United Arab Emirates Oil Minis- quotas OPEC should reduce its ter Mana Saeed Oteiba said Friday Please see OPEC on Page 13 Associated Press Gasoline prices Associated Press GENEVA An OPEC commit- tee on Friday held intensive talks on lowering production quotas to boost sagging oil prices and was expected to report to the ministe- conference Saturday Such a binding agreement is widely believed to be OPEC's only long-term means of shoring up oil prices which have dropped from $32 per 42-gallon barrel last No- vember to levels between $735 $12 or less for some grades say some reports If there is no immediate agree- ment on quotas oil ministers of the 13-nation Organization of Pe- troleum Exporting Countries al- ready have decided to attempt an than 20 percent of the nation's steelmaking capacity also is the first since a 98-day work stoppage at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp mills in Pennsylvania Ohio and West Virginia last year The 40-month contract with USX million debt load The news of purchases by the Bass group came in two dislosure statements After the release of the first statement indicating a small increase in Robert Bass' holdings Friday morning Taft spokeswoman Jenny Young said "We are taking them by their word They are doing it strictly as a good investment and that is how their track record usually runs" After the second announcement Friday afternoon Young had no comment to questions about whether the company was concerned about the stock purchases and planned to take any action concerning that matter A spokeswoman in Robert Bass' office responded to questions by citing the Bass family's long-held policy of not commenting on investments Taft's earnings have suffered due to the high cost of servicing the debt used last year to acquire Dallas-based Gulf Broadcasting First quarter earnings dropped to $36 million for the period ended March 31 compared to a $118 million profit during the same period of last year Another source of trouble has been a decline in advertising revenues from the televison stations that produced 80 percent of its profits last year Two Taft independent stations in Texas are often mentioned as problem areas: KTXA in Dallas the nation's largest steel producer covered about 42000 dues-paying members in 56 union locals he said of that number 22200 were actually working for USX at the timeof the dispute the union said The union expects most of the to Robert Bass and KTXH in Houston In addition to increasing his share of Taft stock Robert Bass appears to be making his presence felt at Taft Shortly after four Bass representatives took seats on the Taft Board earlier this month the company shuffled its top managment The biggest change was the promotion of the company's chief financial officer George Castrucci to the job of executive vice president and chief operating officer The operating officer title had been held by Dudley Taft the son of the founder of the company who remains as a vice chairman The move did not change the titles head by Charles Mechum Jr Taft's chairman and chief executive "This thing shows the Basses are making their presence felt on the board" said Appert "I'm sure Taft management dosn't do anything without the concurrence of the Basses if it's a major move like this (the management change)" 1 I I seen as falling By STEPHEN RASSENFOSS Star-Telegram Writer Robert Bass has launched a new buying offensive at Taft Broadcasting The Fort Worth billionaire disclosed Friday an investor group he leads plans to raise its stake in the Cincinatti-based broadcasting company to 25 percent The Bass-led group purchased nearly 260000 Taft shares over the past three months giving it 195 percent of Taft's stock according to disclosure statements released Friday The group has said it is holding the Taft stock for investment purposes While the stock market averages were falling Friday Taft shares rose by $150 per share closing at $11350 per share The move by Taft's largest shareholder heightened rumors among investors of a possible major move by Bass to improve the prospects of Taft That might explain why the stock has continued to rise despite dismal earnings reports "People have speculated in the past (Robert Bass) might be interested in buying it outright" said Peter Appert a stock analyst for CJ Lawrence a New York brokerage firm "Personally with the price of the stock 1 think that would be pretty hard to do" Taft stock is selling for more than 91 times its annual earnings Adding to the difficulty of a bid for the entire company would be Taft's $762 By JOIN GIVEN year was preceded by self-Associated Press defeating action on the part of NEW YORK (AP) Crude oil many OPEC members analysts prices will stay about the same or said decline despite OPEC's latest ef- "Many OPEC members decided fort to rein in production analysts to put a lot of oil in the market as predicted Friday inventories so if there were an And this together with a glut of agreement the inventories would Inventories will translate into the fall outside the quotas and they cheapest gasoline in two decades could still sell it" said Ed Krapels by the end of the year they said an analyst at Energy Security Meeting in Geneva members of Analysis a Washington-based the 13-member Organization of consulting firm Petroleum Exporting Countries The cartel's production which have struggled all week to agree in late spring was about 17 million on a system of cutbacks and quo- to 18 million barrels a day has tas that would boost the sagging been running at between 20 mil-world price of oil lion and 205 million 42-gallon bar-But as has happened before the rels a day about 25 million to 3 meeting OPEC's fourth this million barrels more than the By JOHN GIVEN Associated Press i I 1 1 111 amet Age 411 OCAo AA --41A1 4 rn1 4 AC" AL ACAL.