Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Minding Your Business: Revving up the Job Growth Engine

Aired February 06, 2004 - 08:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check the big jobs report out this morning.
Andy Serwer here is "Minding Your Business."

Not exactly a home run, was it?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, if they knew some of the things you said off-camera, Jack, that's all I can say. Unbelievable.

CAFFERTY: Like what?

SERWER: Like what, right. I'm not going there.

All right, the jobs report...

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) didn't know what you were talking about.

SERWER: ... we added jobs in the month of January, but it wasn't quite good enough. We were looking to add 150,000 jobs to the economy last month. We only got 112,000.

The unemployment rate did dip from 5.7 to 5.6. That matches going back to October 2001, or January 2002. It's the same level there.

And it's going to be interesting, Jack, to see how the politicians seize upon this. I'm sure the president will say the unemployment rate is down. The Democrats will say, yes, we didn't add as many jobs as expected.

CAFFERTY: Yes, well, they are saying, what, they need 300,000 jobs a month, something in that neighborhood, to begin to replenish the jobs that had been lost..

SERWER: To get us back. That's right.

CAFFERTY: So, we're a long way from that.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: What happened here to this home building company? They're taking a page right out of the CNN diary, aren't they?

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Are we all going to Hawaii later this year?

SERWER: No, I don't think so, unless you're covering the Pro Bowl. We'll get to that in a second.

For all of those people out there who are out of work, you've just got to hear this story and weep, I guess. Home builder David Weekly -- that's the name of the company, David Weekly -- a fairly large home builder in Houston, about five years ago the head of the company said if we double sales and customer satisfaction improves, we're going to take you all to Maui. Well, guess what? He's good to his word.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow!

CAFFERTY: How about that?

SERWER: Hey, how about that for a CEO? So, they're all going, 4,000 employees and their guests are going to Hawaii.

CAFFERTY: Oh, wow!

SERWER: It's 1,000 employees. It's going to cost them $4 million. And they're going to go to Maui. You get to pick which week in March to go.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

SERWER: And they actually did this before five years ago. We wrote about them in "Fortune" magazine and said one of the best companies to work for in America. What a surprise.

CAFFERTY: And you're telling me they're not doing that here at CNN for us?

SERWER: No, unless you're covering the Pro Bowl.

CAFFERTY: Ah!

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Oh!

SERWER: OK, let's talk about the Pro Bowl. The last football game of the year. Heidi, can you help me out here?

COLLINS: I can help you.

CAFFERTY: Most mercifully.

SERWER: Thank you, mercifully.

CAFFERTY: It's the last game, yes.

SERWER: The Pro Bowl. I'm 31 and 20 on the year.

HEMMER: What do we have, 31 and 20?

SERWER: Thirty-one and 20. HEMMER: That's a great year.

SERWER: Thank you. The AFC is favored, but I've got to go with the NFC.

HEMMER: Really?

SERWER: Revenge of the Super Bowl, Dante Culpepper...

COLLINS: Yes.

SERWER: ..., a Viking, I'm looking for him to have a good game. Sorry, Peyton. Sorry, Mr. Brady. And what do you think we should do? Do you think we should we move on to NASCAR when the football season is over?

HEMMER: I live it. February 22, Daytona.

SERWER: Or premiere league Manchester -- no, we'll do NASCAR.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: How about the bowling matches on cable that they run every weekend, huh?

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Exciting.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired February 6, 2004 - 08:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check the big jobs report out this morning.
Andy Serwer here is "Minding Your Business."

Not exactly a home run, was it?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, if they knew some of the things you said off-camera, Jack, that's all I can say. Unbelievable.

CAFFERTY: Like what?

SERWER: Like what, right. I'm not going there.

All right, the jobs report...

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) didn't know what you were talking about.

SERWER: ... we added jobs in the month of January, but it wasn't quite good enough. We were looking to add 150,000 jobs to the economy last month. We only got 112,000.

The unemployment rate did dip from 5.7 to 5.6. That matches going back to October 2001, or January 2002. It's the same level there.

And it's going to be interesting, Jack, to see how the politicians seize upon this. I'm sure the president will say the unemployment rate is down. The Democrats will say, yes, we didn't add as many jobs as expected.

CAFFERTY: Yes, well, they are saying, what, they need 300,000 jobs a month, something in that neighborhood, to begin to replenish the jobs that had been lost..

SERWER: To get us back. That's right.

CAFFERTY: So, we're a long way from that.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: What happened here to this home building company? They're taking a page right out of the CNN diary, aren't they?

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Are we all going to Hawaii later this year?

SERWER: No, I don't think so, unless you're covering the Pro Bowl. We'll get to that in a second.

For all of those people out there who are out of work, you've just got to hear this story and weep, I guess. Home builder David Weekly -- that's the name of the company, David Weekly -- a fairly large home builder in Houston, about five years ago the head of the company said if we double sales and customer satisfaction improves, we're going to take you all to Maui. Well, guess what? He's good to his word.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow!

CAFFERTY: How about that?

SERWER: Hey, how about that for a CEO? So, they're all going, 4,000 employees and their guests are going to Hawaii.

CAFFERTY: Oh, wow!

SERWER: It's 1,000 employees. It's going to cost them $4 million. And they're going to go to Maui. You get to pick which week in March to go.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

SERWER: And they actually did this before five years ago. We wrote about them in "Fortune" magazine and said one of the best companies to work for in America. What a surprise.

CAFFERTY: And you're telling me they're not doing that here at CNN for us?

SERWER: No, unless you're covering the Pro Bowl.

CAFFERTY: Ah!

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Oh!

SERWER: OK, let's talk about the Pro Bowl. The last football game of the year. Heidi, can you help me out here?

COLLINS: I can help you.

CAFFERTY: Most mercifully.

SERWER: Thank you, mercifully.

CAFFERTY: It's the last game, yes.

SERWER: The Pro Bowl. I'm 31 and 20 on the year.

HEMMER: What do we have, 31 and 20?

SERWER: Thirty-one and 20. HEMMER: That's a great year.

SERWER: Thank you. The AFC is favored, but I've got to go with the NFC.

HEMMER: Really?

SERWER: Revenge of the Super Bowl, Dante Culpepper...

COLLINS: Yes.

SERWER: ..., a Viking, I'm looking for him to have a good game. Sorry, Peyton. Sorry, Mr. Brady. And what do you think we should do? Do you think we should we move on to NASCAR when the football season is over?

HEMMER: I live it. February 22, Daytona.

SERWER: Or premiere league Manchester -- no, we'll do NASCAR.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: How about the bowling matches on cable that they run every weekend, huh?

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Exciting.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.