European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 6, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday april 6, 1992 the stars and stripes a Pago 17 Money matters the United states and Europe appear certain to miss a mid april deadline for ending a dispute Over farm subsidies in world Trade talks but they still Hope for a Deal by the months end. In order to save the ambitious 5-year-old negotiations in Brussels Belgium by 108 nations to rewrite world Trade rules the two sides must break a deadlock Over whether or not Farmers should receive government payments. The european Community the 12-nation trading bloc has refused to submit to demands from the United states and other farm exporting nations for Sharp reductions in its agricultural  rates London up fridays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $340.25 an ounce Silver at $4.08. April 2 april 3 British Pound.1.7260 1.7380 German mark.1.6256 1.6360 French franc.5.5988 5.5435 dutch guilder.1.8601 1.8430 belgian franc.34.08 33.68 italian lira.1.246.50 1.234.25 Swiss franc.1.5105 1.4935 greek drachma.192.24 190.50 turkish lira.6,289.60 6267.60 saudi arabian rtyal.3.7501 3.7501 Spanish peseta.104.64 103.88 portuguese escudo.142.50 141.14 Canadian dollar.1.1937 1.1910 austrian schilling.11.6325 11.5200 norwegian krone.6.584 6.4270 danish krone.6.4115 6.3495 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of British pounds and German Marks to . Personnel for personal use. Through monday this will be $1.78 for a Pound and 1.59 Marks to a Dollar based on Price fixings Friday afternoon at military banking  layoffs affect 250 More than planned Bartlesville okla. Apr Phillips Petroleum co. Said it has Laid off 1,350 employees 250 More than previously estimated in a $150 million Cost cutting move it blamed on the recession. About 1,000 of the layoffs a 900 employees and 100 contract workers a came at company Headquarters in Bartlesville where Phillips employs 5,200. The remainder were in Houston and Field offices. The company announced in february that to save Money it would Lay off an estimated 1,100 people including jobs an internal review panel deemed unnecessary. Phillips Stock Rose $1.3/5 on the new York Stock Exchange to close at $23,875 Friday. Other Oil company stocks also Rose considerably. Phillips said it would save $150 million. A there is no question in my mind that we will Nave a stronger Phillips a said j. Bryan Whitworth vice president of corporate relations. Phillips the nations Lith largest Oil company Laid off 2,300 workers in 1986 following takeover attempts by corporate raiders Carl Icahn and t. Boone Pickens. But Whitworth said that unlike previous layoffs the company will not rehire workers when conditions improve. By John Cunniff the associated press new York a a certain sign of eco nomic recovery would be an improvement in the employment picture therefore the labor departments monthly report is always tensely awaited. And generally disappointing. In the past year at least there has been Little in the reports to excite Hope. In March 1991, when some economists already were looking for recovery the jobless rate was 6.7 percent. By March 1992, it had risen to 7.3 percent. The Rise occurred moreover during a period when economists were assuring americans that the recession was Over and that recovery had begun making it All the More disappointing to masses of americans. And the disappointments Are Likely to continue because improvements in the Job picture generally lag rather than precede recovery. There is no mystery about the reasons Why a companies generally delay hiring until they Are forced to do so. They allow Slack time in the existing labor Force to be used up before even thinking about new workers. Having been through Tough times they seek to keep Down costs. They wait for Assurance that the improvement wont stall. A also anticipating an improving econ percent of work Force seasonally adjusted a a a a a a a a Iii March 91 feb. 92 March 92 6.7% 11 7.3% j i 7.3% i source . Dept of labor a Carl Fox omy Many thousands of people re enter the labor Force. Many of these Are people who dropped out of the labor Force during the worst of the recession a the so called discouraged workers who gave up looking. Others Are first time Job seekers who had delayed finding work. Whatever the reason there Are now a million More people in the labor Force than in november of last year. Many of these Are among those with the least scalable skills. Many will remain jobless. These two factors have been present in every accession recovery Cycle since world  ii and it is Likely that  remain factors in future cycles. A but a new element corporate downsizing exacerbates the situation in 1992. Large employers went on a Binge in the 1980s, adding layers of bureaucracy. Decision making was slowed. The time Between decision and accomplishment Crew. Productivity fell. Competitors made inroads into markets. Profits slipped. Some businesses today Are like the person who ate too much Felt unhealthy went on a crash diet and lost weight and now resolves never to let it happen again. Such businesses Are geared to High efficiency. Big payrolls defeat their purpose. A still another Factor May work to slow improvement in the labor picture various studies have shown a widening Gap Between the needs of employers especially in High tech industries and the skills offered by Job seekers. The jobless rate for teen agers was close to 20 percent in february amid frequent complaints from would be employers that even if they had the jobs they could not hire Many of the applicants. Firm fined for using prisoner made goods grand rapids Mich. A a company that bought machine presses made by prisoners in China has pleaded guilty to Federal charges. It was fined $75,000 and told to ship the presses out7 of the country. Authorities said the plea entered Friday by . Bliss was the first successful Federal prosecution of its kind. The company based in the Western Michigan town of Hastings admitted it bought machine presses made a in part by convicts or prisoners in China. Company president Robert Fuller visited the chinese facility last june and said at the time a i saw nothing in that factory that would give me any impression that i was in a  on Friday the company issued a statement saying it settled the Case primarily to avoid a Long costly trial. A nothing is Black and White when doing business overseas but we continue to feel we took All the Steps necessary to do things properly a it said. Customs agents raided the Bliss factory dec. 2 and later charged it with violating two counts of a 1930 Law that prohibits . Companies from importing goods made by convict labor. Agents seized 31 stamping presses valued at $560,000, and seven boxes of documents. The company was ordered to Export the presses within 120 Days. Forty three workers were Laid off after the presses were impounded but company officials said most have been called Back. New antitrust policy called illegal by Japan Tokyo up a Japan on saturday decried As illegal a new . Policy that would permit the Justice department to apply antitrust Laws to foreign business practices that hinder exports by . Companies. A the government of Japan maintains the position that the policy is an extraterritorial application of . Law that violates International Law a the foreign ministry said in a statement. The new policy which came in for heavy criticism in Tokyo and in the United states when it was first proposed in february is aimed primarily at prying open japanese markets. In announcing the adoption of the measure Friday . Attorney general William Barr said the Justice department will Challenge anti competitive practices in foreign countries that Hurt american exports. Previously the Justice department had applied anti Trust Laws Only to cases where the interests of . Consumers not producers were harmed. The move is an attempt to break open Kei Retsu the interlocking and exclusive grouping of companies which . Officials and business leaders say is an unfair Barrier to entering the japanese Market. Kyodo news service reported that Japan intends to fight the policy through such International organizations As the organization for economic cooperation and development. In an attempt to appease Washington Japan a fair Trade commission said in March that it would raise the maximum penalty for antitrust violations to $752,000. However . Officials said the figure was not High enough. Business Taco Bell to Purchase Del Taco restaurants from wire reports new York a . Grace amp co. Has agreed to sell its Del Taco restaurants inc. Properties to Pepsico  Taco Bell unit. Terms of the transaction which involves 100 Del Taco and Taco Villa restaurants were not  s displeases investors los Angeles a lingerie specialist Frederick a of Hollywood inc. Reported earnings of $2.6 million or 29 cents a share for the second Quarter ended feb. 29, up 4.4 percent from earnings of 2.5 million or 28 cents a share for the year ago period. Second Quarter sales were $34.7 million up from $34.1 million in the year ago Quarter. But same store sales for the 196-outlet Chain were off 2.5 percent. Investors were not pleased with the results As Frederick a Stock fell 62.5 cents to $7.75 a share on the new York Stock  closes Beverly Hills Bank Beverly Hills Calif. A state regulators have seized control of the Bank of Beverly Hills and closed it because it had been operating in an unsafe manner. The California superintendent of Banks James e. Gilleran said the Bank had been under state supervision for several years because of substantial loan and operating losses