Construction helps drive income growth

Personal income in Idaho rose by 1.6 percent between April and June, driven by growth in construction and manufacturing jobs.

Income growth in the state outpaced the national average, which was 1.5 percent during the same period, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Idaho’s personal income totaled $39.9 million on an annualized basis during the second quarter. Personal income includes income from all sources received by state residents.

The growth in construction and manufacturing jobs accounted for more than half of Idaho’s increases in personal income.

“These figures reflect what we all know – Idaho’s construction activity is on a roll and is, in part, driving our current economy,” said Roger Madsen, the state’s Commerce & Labor director. “Our challenge is to make sure the growth it creates is managed in a way that benefits both the communities and the people of Idaho.”

According to the Idaho Construction Report published by Wells Fargo, the value of new residential and commercial construction hit record levels this spring. June’s $418 million in new construction set a record, climbing 21 percent from the previous record, set in May.

Professional, health and social services also posted strong income gains during the second quarter. Payrolls declined in the agriculture and military sectors.

Record company lawsuits target campuses

Los Angeles Record companies have filed another volley of copyright infringement lawsuits against computer users on the high-speed Internet2 network, which links universities researching the next-generation Internet.

The latest round of litigation targeted 64 people at 17 universities, accusing them of using the i2hub online file-sharing application to make music files available over the super-fast network, the Recording Industry Association of America said Thursday.

Internet2 is used by several million university students, researchers and professionals around the world but is generally inaccessible to the public.

Hershey changes marketing companies

Harrisburg, Pa. The Hershey Co., the nation’s largest candymaker, has tapped a new company to market its chocolate bars and is parting ways with two longtime marketing firms, saying Thursday it hopes to reach new customers in new ways.

Hershey is switching its candy-marketing business to Boston-based Arnold Worldwide and ending agreements with Ogilvy & Mather and DDB New York, which have more than six decades of experience marketing such products as Hershey’s chocolate bar and Reese’s peanut butter cups.

Japan criticized for not ending U.S. beef ban

Washington A State Department official said Thursday that Japan’s delay in lifting a ban on U.S. beef imports was “inexplicable.”

Christopher Hill, undersecretary of state for East Asia, told senators that Japan should resume imports that were suspended after the discovery of mad cow disease in Washington state in 2003.

Japan’s Food Safety Commission said this week it needed more time to evaluate U.S. safeguards. That led to demands by some lawmakers and beef producers for retaliatory penalties against Tokyo.

Japan was once the biggest customer of American beef, buying $1.4 billion of it in 2003.