BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MAY 20, 1997 An article, "Engine of Economic Change" by Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post (page C1), says that "thriving Milwaukee challenges the Fed's assumptions about inflation ....Despite a tight labor market that should give workers the upper hand, base wages are rising modestly, the cost of living is holding steady, and the prices charged by many companies are going down, not up. The experience in Milwaukee offers a direct challenge to the traditional Fed view that strong economic growth and tight labor markets inevitably lead to higher wages, and higher wages inevitably lead to higher prices. And it demonstrates how thoroughly inflationary expectations have been wrung out of the economic pipeline .... Summer jobs go begging, as unemployment stays very low, says The Wall Street Journal in its page A1 "Work Week" column ....With unemployment at 4.9 percent, and companies working hard to fill even good full-time jobs, managers are scrambling to fill summer jobs ...._____The same feature says that the number of major work stoppages in the U.S. -- strikes and lockouts affecting at least 1,000 people -- rose to 37 last year, up from a record low of 31 in 1995, according to BLS. In a quiet workplace revolution, many small and midsize businesses are leasing their workers from professional employer organizations. The shift is changing the employee-employer relationship ....Companies that lease workers are growing by such bounds that they will employ 37 million by 2007, up from 3.5 million in 1995, according to the article. Go to work for one, and you will report to the same job at the same place and to the same manager. But you will have to resign your present employer. Your new employer of record -- which keeps personnel files and has the ultimate authority to hire and fire -- will be Staff Leasing, Administaff, or another of the companies scrambling to establish themselves in this new industry. Although it's best known as employee leasing, the industry now calls itself professional employer organization (PEOs) in a bid to improve its image after a decade of fraud and bankruptcy. Don't confuse PEOs with temporary agencies. PEOs don't send over a few workers when things get busy. PEOs permanently employ everyone at a small company from the president down ....Why will so many go to work for PEO companies? Because many small company owners are tired of being distracted with human resources headaches, such as workers' compensation, family and medical leave laws, and discrimination lawsuits ....(USA Today, page 1B). Just 12 percent of facilities managers say their workplace has a child-care area, according to a graph in USA Today (page 1B). Most common building and grounds amenities provided employees are shown: 68 percent have a cafeteria, 56 percent have a lounge, 52 percent have an outside eating area, 47 percent have a smoking area, and 43 percent have an art collection. DUE OUT TOMORROW: U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes -- April 1997
