BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1998
The number of work stoppages dropped to an all-time low in 1997, but the
number of workers idled by stoppages increased from 1996, BLS reports.
BLS says 29 major work stoppages began during 1997, putting 339,000
employees out of work and resulting in 4.5 million days of lost work
….(Daily Labor Report, page D-7).
Wage data compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs for all settlements
in the first six weeks of 1998 show that the median first-wage year
increase in newly negotiated labor contracts is 3 percent, the same
increase as reported for the year-ago period. The weighted average
increase for settlements reported to date is 2.6 percent, compared with
2.8 percent in 1997 ….(Daily Labor Report, page D-10).
A newly released book from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal
research organization, argues that the Advisory Commission to Study the
Consumer Price Index misjudged the extent to which current methods of
determining the CPI lead to an upward bias in the index. In the book,
"Getting the Prices Right: The Debate Over the Consumer Price Index,"
EPI economist Dean Baker says the issues surrounding the CPI "are far
more complicated and less one-sided than has generally been presented"
and argued that any change in the price index should be left to BLS and
not relegated to a political forum. Baker concludes that the advisory
commission failed to make a compelling case for a wholesale change in
the CPI. Changing the CPI … should require a higher standard of proof
than put forth by the advisory commission, Baker said ….(Daily Labor
Report, page A-12).
Manufacturing activity among southeastern firms in January began to
recover from the slower pace logged a month earlier, while the outlook
on future production reached its highest level in five years, the
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta reports ….Southeastern manufacturers
reported upticks in output, shipments, and the length of the average
workweek, as well as modest employment gains ….On the inflation front,
the share of firms reporting a decline in the prices received for the
goods they produce continued to outpace those citing gains, while the
proportion reporting increased raw material prices advanced ….(Daily
Labor Report, page A-10).
New claims filed with state agencies for unemployment insurance benefits
were a seasonally adjusted 303,000 for the week ended Feb. 7, a decrease
of 2,000 from the previous week's figure, the Labor Department's
Employment and Training Administration reports. This is the third
straight week that the figure hovered around the 300,000 mark, with no
substantial movement in either direction ….(Daily Labor Report, page
D-5)_____Benefit claims drop in strong job market ….(New York Times,
page C2).
A decline in demand for automobiles held down retail sales in January to
a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent gain, the Census Bureau reports
….(Daily Labor Report, page D-1; Wall Street Journal, page A2)_____A
slump in auto sales offset a surge at department stores last month,
holding retail spending over all to a tepid increase of 0.1 percent
….(New York Times, page C2).
USA Today's "Economic Indicators" feature (page 3B) estimates that the
producer price index for January, due out Feb. 18, will decrease 0.2
percent, the same as the previous month, and the core rate will be
unchanged.
application/ms-tnef
