W. James McNerney, Boeing's chief executive and a member of Proctor & Gamble's board of directors since 2003, will become P&G's presiding director.

McNerney will retain his Boeing post while leading the board at the Cincinnati-based Proctor & Gamble.

McNerney's elevation at the household products maker came after Norman Augustine, the former chairman and CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corp., said he will retire as presiding director of Procter & Gamble Co. in August, after serving 18 years on the consumer products company's board.

A presiding director acts as the key liaison with CEO A.G. Lafley, helping to set the board agenda, chairing executive sessions and communicating the board's feedback to the CEO.

Jim Hoard said today that he is withdrawing his candidacy for a port commission seat.

Six remaining candidates will vie for the seat being vacated by longtime commissioner Jack Fabulich.

"I'm dropping out for financial reasons," Hoard said. "It would be too costly to in a crowded field to get the word out."

A retired Boeing manager and college professor, Hoard is also the treasurer of Save Our Bridge, a group advocating for the preservation of the Murray Morgan bridge.

Low unemployment rates continue to make it a good time to be looking for a job – and a tough time to be hiring.

Pierce County's unemployment rate dipped to 4.4 percent in May from 4.7 percent the previous month. The state's rate remained unchanged at 4.3 percent.

Rates this low generally meant that most everybody who wants a job is working, economists say. And if you are on the hiring side, finding applicants can be a challenge.

"We're seeing that our clients are having an increasingly difficult time finding good people," said Josh Warborg, senior regional vice president with Robert Half International in Seattle.

The company, which has offices in Seattle and Tacoma, provides staffing and consulting services.

"Clients have to expect a couple things," Warborg said. "It will take longer to fill positions and it will be tougher to find exact skill matches."

Alaska Airlines' frequent flier program consistently has won accolades from its customers.

Part of Alaska's appeal is that the airline requires only 20,000 miles to earn a domestic trip. That's the lowest among the nation's major airlines.

But that advantage will be eroded beginning Aug. 1. From that date, Alaska will require 25,000 miles for a domestic flight on its system if the mileage plan member uses a reservation agent to book the trip.

The level will stay at 20,000 miles if the Alaska customer books the trip online.

The increase in mileage is designed to drive costs out of Alaska's system by reducing the amount of hands-on time it takes for a reservation to handle a frequent flier ticket.

Among Alaska's most frequent fliers, who were notified of the change in May, The reaction so far has been relatively mild in on-line forums, although some fliers complain that booking free trips with stopovers included is impossible on the Web making it necessary to call an agent.

The former Mervyn's building at the Tacoma Mall is down. There's almost no sign of it left.

But in the next three to seven days, the new building that will become a bigger, better Nordstrom will start to rise, mall manager Steve Heim said. No word yet on other new tenants coming to the shopping center, but shoppers will see a few changes to existing stores.

Teen retailer Rave was purchased by BCBG last year. All of its stores will get a new look and a new name – Parallel – in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Tacoma Mall store is having a 50 percent off sale to get rid of its inventory.

A store employee told me on Sunday that this shop will be closed for about a month while it is remodeled. When it reopens, it will sell trendy clothes aimed at teens and 20somethings. Some of the clothes will be more upscale, she said.