Nation roundup for Sept. 7

National job growth is slowest in 8 months

WASHINGTON — A surprising drop in hiring and in the number of people seeking work in August sent a reminder that the U.S. economic recovery is still prone to temporary slowdowns.

Employers added just 142,000 jobs last month, well below the 212,000 average of the previous 12 months. The unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent. But that was because more people without jobs stopped looking for one and were no longer counted as unemployed.

Analysts took Friday’s Labor Department report in stride. They noted that other gauges of the economy — from manufacturing and construction to auto sales — remain solid. Layoffs have dwindled, too. Analysts also noted that month-to-month volatility in hiring is common even in a healthy economy.

But the dip in hiring also suggests that, though the Great Recession officially ended more than five years ago, the economy has yet to shed some of its lingering weaknesses. Held back by sluggish pay growth, for example, consumers continue to spend cautiously.

Most economists foresee an economy that’s poised to make further strides, punctuated at times by modest setbacks.

The figures “will inevitably spark speculation that the US recovery is somehow coming off the rails again,” said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics. “However, we’re not too concerned by what is probably just an isolated blip.”

The report showed the smallest job gains in eight months. The weaker-than-expected numbers make it unlikely that the Federal Reserve will speed up its timetable for raising interest rates. Most analysts expect the first rate hike around mid-2015.

The Dow Jones industrial average initially fell, but stocks returned to positive territory by Friday afternoon. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 2.43 percent from 2.45 percent late Thursday. That suggests that some investors sought the safety of bonds and foresee no Fed rate increase anytime soon.

Budget crunch idles Guard units across US

CINCINNATI (AP) — Many of the nation’s citizen-soldiers, whose motto is “Always Ready, Always There,” are not at regular training drills this weekend because of a federal funding shortfall.

Tens of thousands of Army National Guard members from New Hampshire to Hawaii have been idled because of a $101 million gap that has led to drills being postponed and travel being suspended, National Guard spokesman Capt. John Fesler said. Meanwhile, there are efforts underway in Congress to get funding reallocated so drills can be held later this month and so Guard members will get pay they were counting on.

Decisions to postpone or cancel drills were being made by state Guard leaders. Among states that announced they put off training exercises are Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Utah. Some, including Alaska, New Jersey, Oregon and Vermont, planned to go ahead as scheduled. Texas authorities said Guard members already on border missions won’t be affected by the training delay.

Among reasons for the shortfall are fewer Guard deployments overseas that are funded separately and higher-than-expected attendance for training paid by the Guard.

“The National Guard is committed to resolving the issue with least impact to our citizen-soldiers and ensuring they are ready for missions whether at home or overseas,” Fesler said.

The Ohio National Guard’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Deborah Ashenhurst, announced postponement in a video more than a week ago. She said drills were being rescheduled to the end of the month in hopes that funding will be available by then.

“We’re very much aware that this action will be at best an inconvenience for all of you and will have varying degrees of economic impact across the force,” Ashenhurst said in the video message.

“We’re taking this action as a last resort.”

Most of the nation’s 350,000 Army Guard members are part time, and many have full-time civilian jobs. They get paid for readiness training, earning hundreds of dollars for a weekend of drills depending on their rank. They also get credits that build toward retirement benefits.

“When you’re a young college student and working hard to make ends meet and trying to serve your country right now, it’s not good,” said Robbie McGalliard, a 27-year-old artillery gunner in the Georgia National Guard. He would have been at Fort Stewart this weekend firing 105mm howitzer shells in his training, earning about $350.

“It takes away an opportunity for us to train and be mission-capable,” he said.

The Guards function as reserve armed forces and can be activated by the president for U.S. military action or called out by their governors to help with natural disasters or civil unrest. Ohio Guard members were called last month to help with water purification and delivery during a drinking water emergency in the Toledo area, while Missouri National Guard members went to Ferguson to help deal with violent protests after police shot a black teenager.

The Kentucky National Guard had firing practice planned that it will try to get done at the end of the month, said spokesman Lt. Col. Kirk Hilbrecht.

“All the ammo, all the food … you’re going to have to re-contract that for another time. Most contractors were able to be flexible,” Hilbrecht said. “We were fortunate that we were able to relay things on. Other states may not have been so lucky.”

A spokesman for the New Hampshire National Guard said postponement will affect 140 soldiers.

“Unfortunately, it’s going to cause a little bit of discomfort for some,” said Lt. Col. Greg Heilshorn.

Drills have been postponed and pay delayed in past years during federal government shutdowns or because of budget cutbacks.

“We’re used to these obstacles and short-notice changes,” said Capt. Will Martin of the California National Guard. “It’s something we’re learning to navigate.”

Maj. Gen. Jim Butterworth, adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard, said he and other Guard leaders were unhappy with a lack of warning about the shortfall.

“There are definitely some unhappy adjutants general and I’m one of them,” he told The Associated Press.

California homes lack water meters during drought

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Although California is locked in a third year of historic drought, many homeowners and businesses still don’t have meters telling them just how much water they are using.

That’s changing, but some say it’s not fast enough. State law requires water meters by 2025, but the State Water Resources Control Board says dozens of water districts, many in the thirsty Central Valley, aren’t totally metered.

More than 235,000 homes and businesses in the state are not equipped with meters, according to the most recent figures for 2013 collected by the State Water Board. An Associated Press analysis found that Californians who live in 10 water districts with the highest number of unmetered home or business all used more water each day than the state average.

The number of unmetered homes and businesses represents a small fraction of water services statewide, but officials say every drop counts. Gov. Jerry Brown in January declared a drought emergency, and state officials in July approved fines up to $500 for residents caught wasting water. Some communities have put water cops on patrol.

The state’s unmetered homes and businesses are another example of California’s struggle to track water use.

A recent AP story revealed that many state agencies don’t know if they are meeting the governor’s goal of conserving 20 percent. Another found that state regulators do not know how many trillions of gallons have been used by corporations, agricultural concerns and others with senior water rights. And only now is California moving to regulate groundwater pumping.

Peter Gleick, who studies global water issues as president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, said he would like every home and business to be fitted with a meter today, rather than waiting more than a decade for the deadline.

“It’s inappropriate in the 21st century for us not to be carefully measuring and monitoring our water use,” he said. “Especially in California during a drought.”

Residents of cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose have been metered for decades. However, many customers served by about 40 water districts in a 300-mile stretch of the Central Valley continue to pay a flat rate, meaning they can use as much water as they want without seeing their bills rise.

All new homes built since 1992 in California were required to have water meters, and in 2004, a state law called for retrofitting the rest by 2025, except those in the smallest water districts.

It took state and federal legislation to force change in communities such as Fresno and Sacramento, where the city charters said no homes would be metered.

In Sacramento, attitudes about water date back many decades and spring from its abundance in a city located at the confluence of two major rivers, said Tom Gohring, executive director of the Water Forum, a coalition with the mission providing a reliable water supply.

Throughout the Central Valley, people believed for years that runoff from landscaping and agriculture ended up in streams or seeped into underground basins where it could be reused, Gohring said. “It was a political vestige of another era. I think that day is gone.”

Getting Sacramento fully metered is a $450 million project fraught with challenges, said Dan Sherry, supervising engineer for the city’s utility department.

“Replacing backyard mains and putting them out in the street, that’s a big deal,” he said, adding that as of June, 49 percent, or 66,250 homes and businesses, still needed meters.

Sacramento has the largest number to install, followed by water districts in Bakersfield (35 percent unmetered), Modesto (24 percent unmetered) and Lodi (55 percent unmetered), according to the state’s 2013 figures.

Meters play on basic human behavior— and people billed monthly for their water use tend to use less, said Lisa Maddaus, a water resources engineer and partner at Maddaus Water Management Inc. based in Folsom.

In studying the conversion to water meters in Davis, which was completed in 1998, she found that in the first year, residents used 18 percent less water. After the initial spike in savings, she said residents used about 10 percent less in the second year.

“Everyone tightens up their homes, maybe does a little better with leak repairs,” Maddaus said. “We see in an energy crisis, people turn off lights more. In the water crisis, you’re more prudent with your water use.”

Homeowners in Sacramento without meters pay a monthly flat rate of $45.73, and the average single-family home with a meter paid $35.82 each month in the most recent fiscal year, city officials said.

A law passed in 1992 required communities that use water from the federally run Central Valley Project to be fully metered by Jan. 1, 2013. Fresno met the deadline by spending $75 million. Water use dropped by about 10 percent after meters were installed, city spokesman Mark Standriff said.

Julie Kaiser still pays a $56 flat-rate each month. She lives in a corner of Fresno served by the private Bakman Water Company, which is preparing to install meters. Kaiser doesn’t look forward to it, because she doesn’t like being told what to do.

Besides, Kaiser said, she and her husband already conserve water, letting their front lawn die of thirst. It is yellow and crunches under each step.

“If you do have a problem with my front lawn, I don’t really care. Tough,” Kaiser said. “My basic mantra in life is not to waste.”