> BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1997:
>
> RELEASED TODAY:
> EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- Employment rose sharply in November, and
> the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.6 percent. Nonfarm
> payroll employment increased by 404,000 with gains widespread
> throughout the private sector ....
> COMMISSIONER'S STATEMENT - In summary, employment rose sharply in
> November, with gains that were widespread across most of the private
> sector. Hourly earnings continued to increase. The unemployment rate
> was at the lowest level in nearly a quarter of a century.
>
> Hispanics could exceed the proportion of blacks in the labor force by
> 2006, according to projections by BLS. The Hispanic population has
> been growing and is expected to continue to increase faster than the
> black population, and BLS projects that by 2006 it will likely
> overtake blacks as the second largest racial or ethnic group
> represented in the labor force, says BLS demographer Howard Fullerton
> in his MLR article ....BLS economist James Franklin says business
> services will be the fastest growing industry group in the 1996-2006
> period, as far as employment. Its rate of job growth will slow,
> however, from a 6.3 percent annual rate in the 1986-96 period, to a
> 4.1 percent rate in the 10 years ending in 2006 ....Among occupational
> groups, professional specialty occupations are expected to increase
> the fastest and to add the most jobs, 4.8 million by 2006, according
> to BLS economist George Silvestri ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-7)
> ....The reports by Fullerton and Franklin are reprinted in Section E
> of the Daily Labor Report.
>
> The U.S. nonfarm business sector posted a robust 4.1 percent gain in
> productivity during the third quarter, somewhat less than first
> estimated but still the largest gain in nearly five years, BLS
> reports. Initially, BLS estimated that productivity rose 4.5 percent
> in the third quarter, but a downward revision in total output trimmed
> the gain. Hourly compensation paid to nonfarm workers climbed 3.9
> percent in the third quarter, accelerating from a 3.3 percent rise in
> the second quarter. The strong 4.1 percent productivity gain offset
> the pay increase, however, resulting in a 0.2 percent decline in unit
> labor costs ....(Daily Labor Review, page D-1)_____America's work
> force registered the best productivity gain in nearly five years over
> the summer and early fall ....The gain in nonfarm business
> productivity was the largest since the final three months of 1992
> (Washington Post, page G1; New York Times, page C6).
>
> Deferred wage increases payable in 1998 under collective bargaining
> agreements produce a median of 3 percent, unchanged from the median of
> deferred increases reported for 1997, data compiled by the Bureau of
> National Affairs shows ....The analysis is based on 1,242 agreements
> providing deferred increases in 1998. The contracts analyzed cover at
> least 50 workers. Wage computations weigh increases equally and
> exclude cost-of-living adjustments and lump-sum bonuses ....(Daily
> Labor Report, page D-13).
>
> The level of new claims filed with state agencies for unemployment
> insurance benefits declined 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 303,000
> during the week ended Nov. 29, the Labor Department's Employment and
> Training Administration reports. While UI claims levels have not
> moved much in recent months, the totals for the most recent period are
> about 30,000 below the year-earlier figures. Most analysts expect job
> growth to slow somewhat next year as the overall pace of economic
> expansion tapers off ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-11)_____1997 was
> the seventh consecutive year in which claims fell during the
> Thanksgiving holiday week ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2).
>
> A watershed has been reached in the trend toward telecommuting,
> according to a survey by the William Olsten Center for Workforce
> Strategies. Of 294 North American executives responding to the
> annual survey, a slight majority (51 percent) said their organizations
> permit at least some employees to telecommute. This represents a
> significant jump from last year's survey, in which 42 percent of the
> respondents reported that they offered emplyees the option of working
> from home or a remote location. Telecommuting has also emerged as a
> recruiting tool amid increased competition for workers, the survey
> found ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-6).
>
> As prices for gold and other metals slip to the lowest levels in
> years, economists are sharply divided over whether this is a sign of
> deflation or a counterbalance to rising wages, says The Wall Street
> Journal (page A2). Commodity prices are declining, but so is their
> impact on the CPI ....
>
>
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