Employment Situation Summary

Technical information:

Household data:       (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov *  www.bls.gov/cps

Establishment data:   (202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov *  www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact:         (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — JULY 2010

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July, and the unem- ployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis- tics reported today. Federal government employment fell, as 143,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census completed their work. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.

Household Survey Data

Both the number of unemployed persons, at 14.6 million, and the unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, were unchanged in July. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men (9.7 per- cent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.1 percent), whites (8.6 per- cent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.1 percent) showed little or no change in July. The jobless rate for Asians was 8.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

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Charles Mingus - A native son of Nogales, Arizona

Charles Mingus was born in Nogales, Arizona. He was raised largely in the

The Tenth Annual Bisbee Bloomers’ Garden Tour is scheduled for September 11, 2010 from 10 to 4pm.  Nine gardens will be featured on this self-guided tour located in Old Bisbee and Warren.  The tour will showcase established gardens as well as gardens in which the soil has recently been replaced because of mining elements in the earth.  Permaculture gardens with demonstrations will be featured.

Again this year, the garden tour will be held in conjunction with the Plein Air Competition and musicians will be featured in some of the gardens.

Admission is $10.  More information may be obtained at www.discoverbisbee.com or at 520-432-3554 or 866-244-7233.

Artists are invited to Bisbee to paint the picturesque hillsides of Tombstone Canyon and the lovely gardens in the Warren District. This is a great opportunity to network with Arizona’s many Plein Air painters, take advantage of a well-organized venue to sell your work, and win $1,500 in cash prizes!

The Bisbee Plein Air Painting Competition is open to any artist who paints using the plein air technique in oil, watercolor, acrylic, or pastel.  The competition is sponsored by the Bisbee Arts Commission, and will occur in conjunction with the Bisbee Bloomers Garden Tour, which takes place on Saturday, September 11.  During the judging on Saturday afternoon, paintings will be displayed for silent bidding and Shade, featuring Duane Reilley, will be playing jazz standards.  Young artists from 8 to 18 are invited to participate in a painting competition held on Saturday only beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Grassy Park.

To register, complete the attached form and mail to:  Kathy Sowden, PO Box 1195, Bisbee, AZ 85603.  Enter by August 21 to receive the reduced adult registration fee.  Emailduran_926@msn.com with any questions, visit us on the web or call Kathy at 520-432-2900.

About the Bisbee Arts Commission – the purpose of the Bisbee Arts Commission is to advise the city on art and cultural activities in Bisbee; promote arts and the city of Bisbee as an arts community; and support artists through financial, organizational, and programmatic resources.

For the proverbial traveler, Bisbee has been preserved architecturally.  Absent are the mules

and dust and later trolleys that passed the banks, shops & saloons.  Today, miners’ boarding houses are now whimsical bed & breakfasts; shops are home to local artisans and saloons, now fashionable dining establishments, along with quaint shops, custom hat works and antique galleries.  Victorian and European homes perch miraculously on the hillsides.  Coffee houses and brew pubs dot the streets.  The Copper Queen Hotel stands majestically as it did in 1902.  Corporate headquarters for the mining company now houses the BisbeeMining & Historical Museum, our Smithsonian-affiliate.  The Phelps Dodge Mercantile, also referred to as the “company store” is as cosmopolitan as ever showcasing jewelry and copper shops, metropolitan restaurants and the ever popular coffee house.   The infamous Brewery Gulch, home to a sophisticated stock exchange remains intact. Gone are the many brothels, saloons and gambling establishments replaced by quirky art galleries, fanciful restaurants and pubs.  You will see remnants of paths, sidewalks and stairs that led to more than 50 brothels along the gulch.  A lone store still provides groceries for residents.  CityPark, once the local cemetery is now home to many events and where children frolic. Nestled in the mile-high Mule Mountains, Bisbee is located 90 miles southeast of Tucson and offers old-world charm, antique shops, fine restaurants, sidewalk cafes and unique lodging.  While here, ride the train underground at the Queen Mine Tour, take a Lavender Jeep Tour, a tour with a ghost host or a local historian.  Go to www.discoverbisbee.com for official visitor information.

The 6^th annual Bisbee Blues Festival announced its 2010 musical line up today.  Spokesperson Paul Orlando stated that the festival has signed Tel Arc recording artist Tab Benoit as the main, but not the only, headliner for this year’s show.  “Tab Benoit certainly deserves top billing at this year’s Bisbee Blues Festival”, said Orlando, “but we have another equally talented artist, Shemekia Copeland, who could headline the event on her own.”

Besides his three Grammy nominations, Benoit won Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year and the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year at the Blues Music Awards (formerly the W.C. Handy Awards) in 2007. The BMA award is one of the highest honors a blues musician can receive.

There have been many comparisons of Benoit to blues guitar heavyweights like Albert King, Albert Collins and even Jimi Hendrix. Despite the hype, Benoit has done his best over the years to maintain a commitment to his Cajun roots.

Benoit’s latest CD is Night Train To Nashville, recorded in Nashville in May 2007. This album captures the magic and intensity of Benoit in a live setting, joined by his faithful backup unit and New Orleans mainstay, Louisiana’s LeRoux, and a series of guests representing some of the most talented voices on the current blues, Cajun and country scenes.

An environmental activist as well as a stellar blues musician, Benoit has made the preservation of the endangered delta wetlands his personal crusade. He serves as president of Voice of the Wetlands, an environmental organization he co-founded in 2003, and he appeared prominently inHurricane on the Bayou, a 2006 documentary by filmmaker McGillivray Freeman that chronicles life in Louisiana after Katrina.

Shemekia Copeland, although young, is already a force to be reckoned with in the blues world. While still in her 20s, she opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival and numerous festivals around the world, scored critics choice awards on both sides of the Atlantic (The New York Times and The Times of London) and shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Taj Mahal and John Mayer. Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown, Etta James and Koko Taylor, Copeland’s shot at the eventual title of Queen of the Blues is pretty clear. By some standards, she may already be there.

In 2004, at the 25^th W.C. Handy Award Nominations, Copeland won the Blues Entertainer of the Year award and Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year.  In 2005 she won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year once again.  In 2006 she repeated the feat again and added Contemporary Blues Album of the Year to the list.  Then, she won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year again in 2007.

Copeland’s passion for singing, matched with her huge voice, gives her music a timeless power and a heart-pounding urgency. Her music comes from deep within her soul and from the streets where she grew up, surrounded by the everyday sounds of the city – street performers, gospel singers, blasting radios, bands in local parks and so much more.

“These two artists could stage a blues festival on their own, but we have more great talent coming to lend them a hand”, says Orlando.  “The 2010 Bisbee Blues Festival will also host Bob Corritore, Big Pete Pearson and the Rhythm Room All Stars, a Phoenix based blues band with its own great pedigree.  Train Wreck, a local favorite, and a well regarded Tucson band called The Hounds will round out the card.”

The 6^th annual Bisbee Blues Festival is on Saturday, September 25^th, at the historic Warren Ballpark, in Bisbee.   Budweiser is the presenting sponsor, with additional support from Aegis, Freeport McMoRan and Superior Metal Buildings and Roofing.  The gates open at 10:00 am and the show will begin at 11:00am.

Tickets are $20.00 in advance and $25.00 at the gate and are on sale now.  They are available on the internet at www.thebisbeebluesfestival.com; at the Bisbee Visitor’s Center ; at High Desert Market & Café, in Bisbee; Safeway, in Sierra Vista; and at Zia Record Exchange, in Tucson and Phoenix.

AUGUST 2010

Can it really be true?  Is it really August already?  Yes, Virginia – it’s once again time to report to the classroom for another scholastic year of academic achievement and excellence.  For some the month of August is also the last gasp of summer vacations as at least one more trek into Arizona’s mountains or long weekend trip to San Diego is undertaken.  However, the one thread that’s common to all of us is the need to once again practice vigilance when we drive through school zones and crossings: slow down to 15 mph, don’t pass one another, and keep an eye out for children who don’t always wait for the crosswalk and a crossing guard.

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And finally a link to AOT’s travel identification information

http://www.arizonaguide.com/arizona-travel-info/identification-requirements

Here is a link to the governor’s Myths and Facts sheet

http://azgovernor.gov/documents/BorderSecurity/SB1070MythsandFacts.pdf
and more information from the governor’s website
http://azgovernor.gov/AZBorderSecurity.asp

Here is a link to the 1070 information on the AZ Peace Officer Standards Training website.  The entire video is available here.

http://www.azpost.state.az.us/SB1070infocenter.htm

(Tucson, Arizona) On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, Governor Jan Brewer announced a $1.5 million grant for the Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI), a technology business incubator located at the UA Tech Park.

The grant will provide funding for AzCI to purchase laboratory equipment, establish a “Mentor in Residence Program” and develop a commercialization training program that can be implemented state-wide. The grant is funded from federal stimulus dollars.

“This grant is a wonderful way to emphasize the importance of developing a technology based economy in our state by growing our own technology companies. We have the ‘idea’ assets with our universities and several strong industries, but need to develop a stronger infrastructure that supports the entrepreneur,” says Governor Brewer.  “Today, I am building on my vision for the new Arizona Commerce Authority – expanding the toolbox to help Arizona entrepreneurs, grow Arizona businesses, and create more jobs for Arizonans.”

The Arizona Center for Innovation provides structured business development for new technology companies. It works with University of Arizona students, faculty and staff in moving technology through the commercialization process to create new companies in Southern Arizona as well as entrepreneurs from the community. Founded in 2003, AzCI has assisted over 36 technology companies in the region.

“The Arizona Center for Innovation is pleased with the announcement of this grant as it will provide the funding to allow us to further develop programs to assist technology entrepreneurs in Southern Arizona and throughout the state,” says Bruce Wright, president of AzCI. “We have identified several needs where we could significantly enhance our programs and services for our clients, but were limited as a non-profit by a lack of funding and resources. This is a significant step in building the ‘Entrepreneurial Ecosystem’ in Southern Arizona and throughout the state of Arizona.”

The Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI) is a non-profit, high tech business incubator located at the UA Science and Technology Park. The incubator promotes the development of high technology companies in Southern Arizona through a disciplined program of business development. Interested companies should contact the Center at 520.382.3260 or visit our website at www.azinnovation.com

Office of University Research Parks (OURP) plays a significant role in economic development with a focused approach on utilizing research parks and business incubators as technology development and commercialization tools.  OURP accomplishes this by creating environments that support and promote research, education, technology innovation and commercialization, and high technology business development and attraction.  OURP oversees the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park (UA Tech Park), Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI), and the Arizona Bioscience Park (UA Bio Park).

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) and its private-sector leadership board position Arizona to be more responsive to business needs and opportunities.  Governor Brewer will serve as chair of the board and will be joined by a prestigious and powerful mix of Arizona’s business leaders, all of whom are committed to securing a more complete global competitiveness strategy to advance Arizona’s economy and create quality jobs for its citizens by supporting, attracting and helping businesses in targeted, high growth, base industries.