BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1997:
The economy added 404,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, seasonally adjusted, and
the unemployment rate dipped to 4.6 percent in November. Analysts say
the stronger-than expected employment report indicates the economy is
not slowing as expected. The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage
point to a new 24-year low, tying the rate set in October 1973. Not
since March 1970 - when the jobless rate was 4.4 percent - has the
unemployment rate been lower. The November job gain number - derived
from a separate establishment survey - showed the swiftest monthly
advance since February 1996. Job gains proved widespread in November,
and were not just concentrated in pre-Christmas hiring (Daily Labor
Report, page D-1; Statement of BLS Commissioner Katharine Abraham on the
release of the November Employment Report, page E-1).
__The Washington Post (December 6, page 1) includes an article by John
M. Berry that says the nation's jobless rate fell to 4.6 percent, the
lowest level in more than 24 years, as the economy continued to churn
out hundreds of thousands of new jobs and higher wages each month, the
Labor Department reported. With inflation still at bay, the Fed has
raised short-term interest rates only once this year, by a
quarter-percentage point, and analysts expect central bank officials to
leave interest rates alone again when they meet December 16. The major
reason for the lack of action to slow a booming economy is not
complacency about inflation, analysts said, but the uncertainty created
both for financial markets and the U.S. economic outlook by the
financial turmoil in several Asian nations.
__The New York Times (December 6, page 1) carries an article by Robert
D. Hershey, Jr. that says the American economy showed surprising
strength last month, yet the jump in jobs and wages comes with little
sign of inflation. And the recent economic troubles in Asia will
probably mean lower-cost imports into the United States, putting further
downward pressure on consumer prices. The number of jobs created was
double what had been forecast. On page B1 of The Times is an article on
the impact of job data on the financial markets. It says many investors
appear to think bailouts by the International Monetary Fund are
containing the problems in Asia, and that the drag on the American
economy will actually be a benefit, because it could keep the Fed from
raising rates.
__The Wall Street Journal (page A2) reports that the U.S. economy
continued to create jobs at a fairly rapid clip in November, pushing the
unemployment rate down another notch and raising questions about whether
the good news can last much longer given Asia's financial turmoil.Three
charts illustrating the article give BLS as the source of their data.
The Journal's page 1 "The Outlook" feature by Bernard Wysocki, Jr.,
reports that the employment data convinced traders of the strength of
U.S. economic fundamentals, leading them to buy dollars. A strong
dollar could intensify the trade tensions starting to build between East
and West. Moreover, a strong dollar will make it harder for U.S.
companies to export to Asia, especially given the weakened state of many
economies. Next year's U.S. trade deficit could rise about 15 percent,
says a University of Chicago economist. But even if U.S. imports
increase sharply and U.S. exports turn sluggish, few observers believe
that the Asian crisis will derail America's economic expansion.
__As the unemployment rate continues its dizzying descent, companies are
digging deeper and deeper into the pool of labor to try to keep up,
raising questions about just how much further they can go. So far,
they're not scraping bottom. But some economists - and employers - fear
they may be about to, if the economy doesn't slow down first.
Personnel in senators' offices in the Washington area earn only
two-thirds as much as executive branch workers here, a gap that has
grown dramatically during the 1990s, according to a study released today
by the Congressional Management Foundation. The foundation also reports
that Senate staff members stayed an average of 2.8 years in their
current positions and a total of 5.6 years in congressional offices.
Nearly 40 percent of Senate chiefs of staff have been in their position
2 years or less, according to the study. "The pay gap is increasing,
while the trend is toward shorter service," said the executive director
of the foundation. An accompanying chart says that the average pay for
federal workers in the D.C. area has outpaced inflation, while Senate
paychecks have not. Average pay for Senate jobs in 1997, by occupation,
is listed, as well as the change from 1995, as well as the change from
1995, inflation adjusted (The Washington Post, "The Federal Page," page
A17).
The Washington Post's "Odd Jobs" feature (December 7, page H4) reports
that 15 percent of 202 big U.S. companies accept the concept of a
"knowledge organization" - one that is focused on continues training and
assessment programs for employers, a study by the Corporate Knowledge
Center, the Annenberg Incubator Project at the University of Southern
California and Omnitech Consulting Group. __Corporate training managers
at the executive level received raises averaging 10.3 percent in 1997,
according to an annual salary survey published by Training magazine.
Trainers at lower levels received less. The survey was based on a
mailing to 12,000 subscribers of the Minneapolis-based magazine. The
average salary of subscribers was $56,568, up 3.5 percent from 1996 and
15.2 percent since 1992.
The Wall Street Journal's special section "The Internet" carries a graph
on page R8 that shows the growth in the number of people using e-mail
1994 to projected 2000, as more than double.
Boosted by the nation's roaring economy, the sales of mansions are
rocketing, says USA Today (page B1). "We're seeing a tremendous surge
in high-end home sales," says Coldwell Banker. "We think this is only
going to get better." __Holiday spending prospects look cheery for
retailers in the wake of a Fed report that consumers pushed purchases on
credit to a seasonally adjusted $10.7 billion in October, a 10.5 percent
annual rate increase, the fastest rate in 15 months (USA Today, page
B1). USA Today's page B1 graph says that adults are expected to spend
more than $160 billion on holiday purchases - up 7 percent from last
year. It shows average planned spending, by age.
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