BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1996: Employers' health insurance costs have been growing at a slower rate since 1989 and particularly after 1995, according to a new Labor Department report (Daily Labor Report, page A-16). The Employment Cost Index of July 30 showed a 0.1 percent rise over 12 months in nominal employers' health insurance costs -- which is one of the lowest 12-month increases since 1983, says the Report. The report: "A Look at Employers' Cost of Providing Health Benefits" is available from the Labor Department's Office of Public Affairs -- (202)-219-8211. The Index of Leading Indicators rose 0.5 percent in June, to an historic high of 102.9 percent of its 1987 base, according to the Conference Board (Daily Labor Report, page D-1). __The Washington Post (page D1) says that Wall Street had been expecting an increase of 0.3 percent. But economists said the unexpected strength was not enough to sway them from their recent conclusion that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged at its August 20 policy meeting. __The Wall Street Journal's page 1 chart is of leading indicators, 1993 to the present. In The Journal's page A2 story is the comment that "reports of rising unemployment and declining wages released Friday strongly suggest that growth in the third quarter will be more moderate, analysts say." __The Washington Times (page B6) says the data suggested a slight cooling of the economy, welcomed by financial markets as indicating the Fed would not need to raise rates to fight inflation. New health insurance legislation puts more pressure on companies already struggling to find and keep workers, says USA Today (page B1). Employees who once stayed put for fear of losing health coverage will be free to take advantage of the booming job scene, workplace experts say. A recent study by the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation found 41 percent of workers would be more likely to change jobs if concerns over insurance were eliminated, says the Gannett publication. Employees are already taking advantage of a tight labor market to seek other jobs; 64 percent of executives went on a job interview this year, up from 53 percent in 1993, according to a Cornell University study. Rising health costs are threatening generous benefits in Europe, says The New York Times (page 1). Just like Americans, Europeans are being forced to think about what comprehensive medical care costs, something that never worried them before. The high level of health care offered by the welfare states of Western Europe was long the envy of much of the rest of the world, says The Times, but they can no longer afford the vast amounts required to pay for unlimited benefits. So in country after country, health care administrators are turning to the same kinds of market-oriented cost-control measures used by non-profit managed care companies and health maintenance organizations in the United States, and raising many of the same ethical concerns. American Demographics (August 1996, page 34) says that the typical high school graduate earned an average of $18,700 in 1992. Compare that with the average college graduate earnings of $32,000. Estimated over their working lives, the average high school graduate can expect to bring in $821,000 in current dollars. The lifetime take for a college graduate is substantially higher, $1.4 million. Throw in a professional degree in law or medicine, and expected lifetime earnings soar to $3 million.
