People call it the biggest end-of-the-season party.

It's the highest projection in 27 years. What's happened is the hurricanes, especially Katrina, have increased demand for durable goods and construction materials.

Construction, finance/insurance/real estate, education and public administration remain unchanged.

The Parkersburg/Marietta area employment outlook is stronger than the fourth quarter forecast when 23 percent of the companies interviewed reported an increase in hiring activity, and 17 percent planned to decrease the hiring pace.

What I worry about is that someone's going to collapse on the way over there, or get hit.