RATE FATE: The Federal Reserve board is unlikely to raise interest rates again when it meets Tuesday because, “The economy is losing momentum, consumers are reining in spending and wage growth is slowing,” reports Bloomberg today. That may seem a high price to pay to keep the Fed-set overnight bank loan rate at 5.25 percent, but there it is. Today’s jobs report showed a gain of 113,000 in July, lower than expected, and an uptick in the unemployment rate from 4.6 to 4.8 percent. The Dow popped 100 points in early morning trading and the dollar fell against the Euro and the yen.
DENVER WAGES: “The average salary increase in the Denver metro area is expected to be 3.8 percent, meeting the national average, based on 320 responses from HR professionals in Denver,” according to WorldatWork, a Scottsdale, Ariz., firm that studies compensation issues. For exempt salaried employees in Denver, general/cost of living increases are coming in at 2.4 percent this year; merit increases at 3.6 percent; other increases at 1 percent; with 12 months between pay hikes.
SOL’S PAYDAY: Recent reports that former US West CEO Sol Trujillo got a $70 million parachute on leaving the company in mid-2000, just before its merger with Qwest was completed, aren’t news. It was noted in a 2002 Denver Post series on Qwest’s subsequent financial meltdown co-authored by Kris Hudson (now at The Wall Street Journal). What is news is how the payday apparently informs Trujillo’s stewardship of Telstra Corp., the Australian telecom company he now heads. “He’s clearly a person who doesn’t need a full-time job,” said Trujillo spokesman Phil Burgess, according to Bloomberg. The implication being that Trujillo’s rich enough to focus on Telstra’s well-being and not his own. Burgess once headed the Center for the New West in Denver, largely funded by US West.
THE KICKER: If you’d like Al Gore to write anything other than his name, or sign anything other than his book, “An Inconvenient Truth,” during his appearance tomorrow noon at the Tattered Cover in Lodo, you’re out of luck. “He will not be able to personalize books, nor will he sign other books or memorabilia,” according to the bookstore’s website, a common refrain for Tattered events at which crowds are expected.
