Employment fell in June
from the U.S. Department of the Treasury

Job Growth: Payroll employment fell by 62,000 in June, following a decrease of 62,000 in May. The United States has added about 7.8 million jobs since August 2003. Employment increased in 35 states and the District of Columbia over the year ending in May. (Last updated: July 3, 2008)

Unemployment: The unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in June, unchanged from May. (Last updated: July 3, 2008)

Signs of Economic Strength Include Exports and Low Inflation: Exports: Strong global growth is boosting U.S. exports, which grew by 9.5 percent over the past 4 quarters. (Last updated: June 26, 2008) Inflation: Core inflation remains contained. The consumer price index excluding food and energy rose 2.3 percent over the 12 months ending in May. (Last updated: June 13, 2008)

Republican U.S. Senator Norm Coleman stopped by Dunn Bros. Coffee in Chaska and spoke to about three-dozen supporters about politics, energy and oil. Watch the video of Coleman's version of how to address the energy crisis.

Referred to by Sen. Coleman in the video, sitting to your left, is Watertown Mayor A.J. McDonald, a delegate to this year's Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

President Bush said on Monday he's lifting a presidential ban on drilling for oil and natural gas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

Congress put in place a separate ban in the 1980s.

``Today I've taken every step within my power to allow offshore exploration of the OCS,'' Bush said in a statement at the White House. ``This means the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action by the U.S. Congress.''

Pressure to permit drilling off the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean coastlines and in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico has been building as oil and gasoline prices have surged to records.

Inflation and higher food prices are problems the world over right now. According to allAfrica.com, Malawi's Minister of Economic Planning and Development, Ken Lipenga, has said that Africa is a net food importer importing approximately $20 billion worth of food annually, so it is the hardest hit by rising oil and food prices.

Global strategist Thomas Barnett takes an energy angle on Russia’s invasion of Georgia.

He says, “Now we all have clarity about the nasty nature of Putin’s Russia,” and asks why the U.S. would want to expose the American economy to the potential risk of being held hostage by a couple of oil pipelines that run through the old Soviet empire.

“It’s all-of-the-above: time, gang--domestic drilling, nukes, concentrated solar, deep geothermal, clean coal, and whatever else Silicon Valley and heroic capitalists everywhere can dream up as we conduct a market-driven transition to a post-hydrocarbon economy,” he says

A San Francisco newspaper reported Friday, Aug. 15, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, Calif.) has firmly rejected the idea of a House vote solely on the issue of offshore oil drilling, calling it "a hoax on the American people" backed by oil companies.

Prior to that, Minnesota's 2nd District Congressman, John Kline (Republican), was in Washington on Aug. 11 and 12 with a message for Speaker Pelosi and Congressional Democrats.

“Throughout Minnesota’s 2nd district, I continue to hear concerns about the high cost of gas and the long-term security of our energy supply,” said Kline.

He has been supporting legislation that increases production of more American-made energy, improves energy efficiency, and encourages greater reliance on alternative and renewable energy technologies.