BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, MAY 22, 2000
The Midwest had the lowest jobless rate of any region in the country in
April, with an unemployment rate of 3.3 percent, BLS reports. Jobless rates
were relatively low throughout the nation, with the Northeast and South
recording 3.8 percent unemployment rates and the West registering a 4.4
percent rate. The national unemployment rate in April was 3.9 percent, a
30-year low. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-8).
In Virginia, the average annual pay of a tech company employee was more than
$66,000 in 1998 -- more than twice the $30,900 average for all private
sector employees in the state, according to a new study that reveals a
widening wage gap between the tech and non-tech worlds. The tech workers'
advantage was not quite as great in Maryland and less still in the District,
where clusters of highly paid lawyers, lobbyists, and consultants greatly
help to even the score for the non-techies. It is easy to conclude from the
report of the American Electronics Association that the digital divide
between the high-tech haves and have-nots is large and growing. There's
also evidence, however, that this demarcation is becoming blurred in places
as technology spreads even further into the economy. The AEA study, by
necessity, measures only those tech workers whose salary data are easily
gathered. These are employees working for pure technology companies where
software computer systems, Internet applications, networks, and other
information age tools are created and developed. The AEA estimates that 4.6
percent of all U.S. workers were employed by these companies last year. ...
But there is a nearly equal number of employees who put technology to work
outside the tech industry's walls at law firms, manufacturing plants,
stores, construction companies, banks, brokerages, and elsewhere, other BLS
estimates conclude. This group is more likely to contain a wider range of
technology skills, including people who have migrated into tech jobs from
other lines of work after taking classes nights and weekends. ... (Peter
Behr in Washington Post "Business" section, page 10).
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened in March, rising 5.1
percent to a new record high, the Commerce Department says. Total exports
rose 2.9 percent in March, but imports rose even more, by 3.4 percent. ...
The rise in exports included "substantial gains in industrial supplies,
capital goods, and telecommunications equipment." For the year-to-date,
exports are up a "healthy 11 percent" over the same period in 1999. ...
(Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_____The deficit in the United States' trade
in goods and service rose to another record, as Americans continued to buy
more imports and a strike at aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. crimped
expansion of exports. ... (Washington Post, May 20, page E1)_____The United
States trade deficit widened to a record, as surging demand for oil,
automobiles, and other imports overpowered a second consecutive monthly
increase in exports. ... Although the United States' shortfall with China
narrowed, record imports from Japan, Canada, and Western Europe caused the
trade gaps with those regions to widen. ... (New York Times, May 20, page
B2)_____The record U.S. trade deficit in March intensified the debate in the
House over granting China permanent normal trade status. Higher oil prices
continued to boost already high U.S. imports. While economists have yet to
sound major alarms about the expanding deficit, the figures couldn't have
come at a worse time politically. China trade bill opponents were quick to
point to the big deficit with China as a reason to oppose the measure. But
U.S. Trade Rep. Charlene Barshefsky and others contend the agreement, by
opening markets in China, will increase sales of U.S. products there. ...
(Wall Street Journal, page A2).
The latest survey of employers conducted by Manpower Inc. shows that demand
for virtually all categories of workers is at an all-time high. Survey
results provide new evidence that employers will need to search for more
"nontraditional employees" and offer more flexible work arrangements to
compete. ... The firm's survey of hiring plans as described by nearly
16,000 employers showed that 35 percent of businesses expect to increase
their payrolls in the third quarter. Only 5 percent said they plan to
reduce staff, and another 55 percent said they expect no change. "The
growing demand, unprecedented in the survey's 24-year history, is reflected
across all industries and regions of the country," Manpower said. ...
(Daily Labor Report, page A-7)_____Labor markets will remain tight this
summer, with demand for workers climbing to record heights as more than a
third of American companies anticipate hiring new employees. ... Overall,
third-quarter hiring is expected to increase 9 percent from the previous
quarter, when 32 percent of respondents reported the need to recruit.
Compared with the same quarter in 1999, every sector of industry is
experiencing greater demand. ... (Washington Post, page A22)_____The
persistent shortage of workers that has been crimping growth plans at many
companies won't be ending anytime soon. Demand for employees is still
growing, and, with unemployment at its current extremely low levels, "the
traditional labor supply is essentially exhausted," Manpower said. ...
(Wall Street Journal, page A4).
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