More people are looking for work, but the U.S. Department of Labor reported that in September, the economy tallied about 110,000 new jobs, more than any other month since May.

The U.S. Department of Labor also reported the economy added almost 90,000 jobs in August. Unemployment was at 4.7 percent as more people came back into the job-search market and is higher than the mid-2006 peak.

Unemployment may surge to 5 percent in future months, economists say, but the aftermath of the recession of the early '80s brought unemployment rates in the double digits.

The bright economic figures for new jobs come at a time when the housing industry is on the ropes brought on by the toppling of sub-prime housing credit. Homeowners have had mortgages foreclose at a significant rate and mortgage-security investment has dived. In addition, Wall Street's stock reports indexes have varied widely as a credit crisis is looming, yet consumer installment credit swells by billions per month. And despite new job growth recently, recent polls show few cheering the manner President George W. Bush is handling the USA economy.

Homebuilding and its associated home furnishings industry have mounted the worst losses in the past year. Building products have likewise taken significant losses, according to Business Week. Gainers for the year include Internet retailers, metals and mining and tires and rubber.

Read the 2007 Copier Careers Salary Surveys about the copier industry. Here are the links:

Copier Careers Technician Salary Survey Web site:
http://www.copiercareers.com/salary_survey/cc07_salary_survey_tech_f.pdf

Copier Careers Sales Managers' Salary Survey Web site:
http://www.copiercareers.com/salary_survey/cc07_salary_survey_salesmgr_f.pdf

Copier Careers Service Managers' Salary Survey Web site:
http://www.copiercareers.com/salary_survey/cc07_salary_survey_svcmgr_f.pdf

Please visit the following link to participate in the 2008 Copier Careers survey:
http://www.copiercareers.com/salary_survey/salarysurveys_form.shtml

Future Graphics, a Los Angeles firm that sells replacement parts, supplies and production equipment for remanufacturing laser printer, inkjet fax and copier cartridges, has recently filed 11 patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for procedures developed at its research and development center.

Included in the patent applications are innovative ideas for remanufacturing color HP cartridges and for fixtures and tools that make remanufacturing cartridges more profitable.

In other imaging news:

Katun announces distribution agreement with RTS Imaging. Katun, Minneapolis, Minn., has announced a distribution agreement with RTS Imaging of Sydney, Australia, which will become Katun's prime distributor for parts and supplies in Australia and New Zealand.

Six new imageRUNNER machines in Canon 2000 Series. The imageRUNNER 2030i/2025i/2022/2022i/2018/2018i models will copy, network print, do color scans and have optional fax features.

Ricoh rolls out Aficio MP C2000. The Ricoh Aficio MP C2000 has 20 ppm full color and monochrome and can print, copy, scan and fax. Cost is $9,865 and the Aficio MP C2000SPF, which includes fax, is available for $10,988.

Toshiba partners with KIP. Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. has partnered for wide-format with KIP America, Novi, Mich. KIP will provide authorized Toshiba dealers with wide-format KIP multifunction printing solutions for customers.

Ricoh launches Aficio SP 3200SF. Ricoh has recently launched the Aficio SP 3200SF digital system, a 30 page-per-minute multifunctional machine for $615.

Newest monochrome bizhub designed for ease-of-use, versatility. The bizhub 181 multifunction product has 18 ppm capability and can print, copy, fax, and scan. Cost of the base model is $2,660.

Canon will close its German copier production plant in Gliessen, Germany, and move to China and cut about 250 jobs.

The factory in Germany produces monochrome copiers and now employs about 400 people. Service and support will still be available at the Gliessen plant.

There is no timetable for the move and Canon is reportedly still initiating negotiations with the worker's council in Germany on the move.

Everyone from beauty contestants to public figures have had their reputations scarred recently by items or photos posted on the Web. And in a world where information about everyone is everywhere, the last thing an applicant wants is some embarrassing photo or comment on a social networking site end in the hands of prospective employers.

Youth who grew up with their fingers on a keyboard sometimes have to be jolted a little before they realize that everything they put on many of the sites can end up in an HR file. While many such people are discreet, more are not.

Arguments about the appropriateness of using the Internet for checking out employees will rage on. There are always debates about the appropriateness of use with every piece of technology, from the telephone to the television. Now the debate is about the Internet, YouTube, Flickr, and blogs detailing every movement of each and every day. Cell phone cameras now capture every movement of about everyone on earth. The counterpart is in space above us, logging almost every piece of real estate and allowing it to be viewed from space.

There are ways to use anonymous names and to make Web activity less prominent. That's not easy without a lot of wrangling with online content providers. And in this day an age, a short three-line trail on Google seems almost fishy when digital trackers trace almost everything done.

Here are a few tips from those who lived in the pre-Internet generation to those who grew up with it. Those are:

- There's a private "you" and a public one. Take care you don't get the two mixed up.

- Be protective of your private life. Know your friends and who you can trust. If you're going to "let it all hang out," take pains to assure it will not get on the Web.

- Be likewise protective of your opinion. Before you shoot off an e-mail in response to a question, think about how that might look to a future employer.

- Be choosey what social networking sites you use. While many promise confidentiality, employers becoming a member can easily view them.

The person with the most control about what is online is you - no one else.

Rocky Mountain Business Systems, Santa Fe, New Mexico, established in 1985, has built a family business into an award-winning office-equipment company servicing northern New Mexico from three locations.

"We provide probably what I would consider the best service in New Mexico," said Mariano Gonzales, company vice president. "We stock our parts in-house…We stock our parts and supplies locally so we can give instant service, instant parts and instant everything else."

Mariano's acquaintance with the office-equipment industry dates from 1962, and before he and Sophie established the company, he worked for Monroe Calculators. Other people in the company are likewise industry veterans. William Kraft, general manager of the Albuquerque branch is an industry veteran dating from 1968.

The business is truly about family. Mariano's wife, Sophie, is president. The company also has branch offices in Los Alamos, with Mariano and Sophie's son, Tom, as manager of the Los Alamos branch. Their other son, Michael, manages the Santa Fe branch. Several of Mariano's sisters are in the business, as are two grandsons.

The company was founded with 10 people and now numbers 52 people. Revenue has grown by over $7 million since the business was founded. In addition, Rocky Mountain Business Systems has won numerous awards, the most recent being a Small Business Administration award for New Mexico and also a regional SBA award.

The company sells Canon, Lanier and Kyocera Mita equipment and Mariano says almost 70 percent of their equipment is networked. With 32 service technicians, the company is well-equipped for network service.

"We attribute the company's success to its reputation for quality products, speedy service of the equipment that we sell and dedicated employees," Mariano said. "We have very low employee turnover. We hire the right people who stand by us, whether they're family members or not."

It's only a matter of time before methanol (rubbing alcohol) fuel cells will be the way to recharge batteries in items such as cell phones and laptops.

Now the U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed changing rules so airplane passengers can carry methanol fuel cartridges and micro-fuel cells aboard airplanes. The act was praised by companies that are currently developing the cells and cartridges.

The regulation allows passengers to carry micro-fuel cells and two recharges.

Refillable methanol fuel cells not only last forever, but will fuel cell phones a month. Frost & Sullivan says the market for micro-fuel cells for consumer electronic devices will expand.

The technology is now in use. Mechanical Technology, Albany, N.Y., has recently delivered the prototype fuel-cell batteries called Mobion micro fuel cells to Samsung that have direct methanol fuel cell technology.

Wouldn't it be nice if those handwritten notes from service calls could be scanned by a pen-like device and made into printed words? The new Fly Fusion Pentop Computer is a digital pen that can scan, translate, help pronounce words, play MP3's and do math calculations.

The digital pen has 64 megabytes of memory - more than enough for many pages. It comes with a mini-USB cable for transferring files to other computers and for charging. It also comes with special Fly paper. While handy for storing handwritten notes from a service call, that's not all it can do.

It can also perform math calculations, do language translation and even play MP3 files. Plus you can use it as a calculator or to post reminders. Optional software applications are multi-lingual, too. It's compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, but not Macs. Cost is $80.

Sales Representative - Riverside, CA

Selling Sales Manager - South Carolina

Field Service Technician - British Columbia, Canada

Technician - Seattle

Field Service Technician - Delaware

Sales position - Springfield, MS

To unsubscribe to this newsletter, please send an e-mail to Unsubscribe@copiercareers.com and be sure to put "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

For editorial information and feedback, contact Copier Careers at newsfeedback@copiercareers.com.

Copyright © 2007 CopierCareers.com. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this newsletter may not be published or otherwise distributed without prior written consent.

This message and accompanying documents are covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. '' 2510-2521, and contain information intended for the specified individual(s) only. This information is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, copying, or the taking of any action based on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message.