BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY AND TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9 AND 10, 1998
RELEASED TODAY: In the fourth quarter of 1997, productivity advanced
2.2 percent in the business sector as output grew 5.5 percent and hours
worked rose less - 3.2 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rates). In
the nonfarm business sector, productivity rose 2.0 percent as output
increased 5.5 percent and hours grew 3.5 percent
.
Worker costs in manufacturing in 28 countries in 1996 were on average 90
percent of those in the United States, BLS reports. Average U.S. hourly
compensation costs for manufacturing production workers rose 3 percent
from 1995 to 1996, to $17.70. During the same period, compensation
costs rose 3.9 percent in Canada, to $16.66, and 18.1 percent in Mexico,
to $1.50
.(Daily Labor Report, Feb. 10, page A-3).
__Continuing to defy the Asian financial crisis, the U.S. economy added
a seasonally adjusted 358,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs in January, with
job growth particularly strong in manufacturing and construction, BLS
reports. The nation's unemployment rate was unchanged for the month at
4.7 percent, the same as the average rate for 1997
.An ironic
combination of unusually warm winter weather together with repairs
stemming from recent ice storms in the Northeast helped construction
employment grow by 92,000 in January, BLS Commissioner Katharine G.
Abraham said at a JEC hearing on the report
.BLS for the first time
included in the report employment statistics based on education status,
finding that those without a high school education are four times as
likely to be unemployed as college graduates
.(Daily Labor Report, Feb.
9, page D-1).
__As the U.S. economy continued to churn out jobs over the past year,
joblessness among adult workers without a high school diploma dropped
far more than among those with more education
.The new data on
educational attainment showed that unemployment among workers without a
high school diploma last month was 7.2 percent ,well above those of the
other three groups - 3.9 percent for workers with a high school diploma,
3.2 percent for those with some college, and 1.9 percent for college
graduates
.BLS included the new figures at the request of Labor
Secretary Alexis M. Herman, who said she wanted the public "to begin to
understand the correlation between education and employment and
unemployment
and to make sure people make the investment in the skills
they need
.(Washington Post, Feb. 7, page H1).
__The economy created jobs at a surprisingly robust pace in January,
evidence that America's economic stamina has withstood any disruptions
caused so far by the financial tumult in Asia
.It was the third
consecutive month that job generation has been exceptionally strong
.(New York Times, Feb. 7, page A1).
__The spate of new jobs created by American companies casts doubt over
the conventional wisdom that the economy is slowing .
(Wall Street
Journal, Feb. 9, page A2).
A new study shows that more jobs are being created for business managers
and professionals than high-technology workers
.Month after month, the
Labor Department reports the creation of hundreds of thousands of new
jobs
.Where are all these jobs: While low-wage work is one source, a
new study finds that well-paid middle managers and other upper-level
office workers are being hired in big numbers .
The real draw for the
college graduate is an upper-level office job, not a job that requires
education in science and technology. That specialty work does not pay
as well. Thirty-seven percent of all the jobs created since 1989 have
been for "business professionals and managers," the study said
.Their
annual pay averaged a health $46,000 in the mid-1990s. "The decision
structure in a global economy demands these people," said Steven Rose,
senior economist at the Educational Testing Service and a co-author of
the study
.This study, as do most that try to explain labor force
dynamics, relies on Labor Department data. What sets it apart is the
decision to rearrange workers into the authors' own set of occupations
and functions. The goal was to more accurately reflect reality, but
some labor economists said the study's classifications were arbitrary
and subjective
.(New York Times, Feb. 10, page D1).
Because California, Oregon, and Washington state depend more than the
rest of the United States on Pacific Rim exports, the recent downturn in
Asia may have more pronounced effects on their economies .
State Finance
Department economists have predicted that the Asian slowdown could cost
California up to 65,000 new nonagricultural jobs this year
.(Washington
Post, Feb. 10, page A3).
Most minority women in management are deeply dissatisfied with their
chances for advancement, and nearly a quarter say they plan to leave
their companies, a research group reported. Black, Hispanic, and Asian
American female managers say they're not moving up because they don't
have ready access to role models, mentors, and high-visibility projects,
according to the Catalyst research group (Washington Post, Feb. 10, page
C1).
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