BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1998
There were 1,608 mass layoff actions by employees in December, involving
170,110 workers, BLS reports. The numbers were higher than that
reported by BLS in November, when there were 1,143 layoff actions
affecting 97,509 workers ….(Daily Labor Report, page D-1).
__The major CPI revision scheduled for release Feb. 24 updates the CPI's
marketbasket of goods and services to more accurately reflect price
changes for the wide range of goods and services purchased by U.S.
consumers, according to BLS. When BLS assigns new weights to items, it
is bringing the CPI more in line with how consumers spend their money
….Quoted is an article in the Monthly Labor Review by John S. Greenlees,
assistant commissioner for consumer prices, and Charles C. Mason, a BLS
economist ….(Daily Labor Report, page C-1).
__The consumer price index - the government's key inflation gauge - has
been overhauled for the first time in 11 years. The new CPI will be
unveiled Tuesday, when BLS reports January prices. There have been vast
changes in consumer spending habits in the past decade, says BLS
economist Pat Jackman. "We were always picked on for not having cell
phones on the CPI. Now they're in there," says Jackman, who supervises
the CPI report. The overhaul: Adds a major category, education and
communication, to the seven categories previously used ….Uses new
statistical techniques to better reflect changes in the quality of goods
and services, especially personal computers. Shows that consumers are
spending less of their income on food, beverages, and transportation and
more on shelter and medical care ….(USA Today, page 1B).
Led by the construction industry, U.S. employers throughout the country
are planning one of the most active worker recruiting periods on record
during the second quarter of 1998, according to a Manpower, Inc.,
survey. Of the 16,000 businesses surveyed by the temporary help
company, 30 percent said they would recruit additional staff in the
second quarter, while 61 percent planned no changes. Five percent said
they would reduce their staffs, while another 4 percent were uncertain
about their future employment plans ….(Daily Labor Report, page A-1;
Wall Street Journal, page A2).
"Through the year 2005, the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
employment of securities and financial sales representatives to grow
much faster than average for all occupations," says an article in The
Washington Post advertising section on the local job market (Feb. 22,
page K9). "Factors spurring the expected growth include a continued
healthy economy, rising personal incomes and greater inherited wealth -
all of which mean more money will be available for investment."
DUE OUT TOMORROW:
Consumer Price Index - January 1998
Real Earnings: January 1998
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