BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1997 The National Association of Purchasing Management reports that growth in the manufacturing sector advanced at a faster pace in May than in April, spurred by a surge in new orders ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-3) Construction spending fell 1 percent in April as both private and public construction weakened, the Commerce Department reports ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-5). Personal income and consumer spending edge up 0.1 percent in April, the Commerce Department reports ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-1). Economic reports are mixed. Americans' income growth slowed to a crawl in April, but a surprisingly strong manufacturing rebound in May raised fears the U.S. economy may return to a pace likely to aggravate inflation. The 0.1 percent increases in personal income and spending fit with other statistics suggesting that U.S. economic growth slowed sharply as the second quarter began, after racing at a breakneck speed during the first three months of the year. A separate report showed construction spending in April fell 1 percent, the first decline of the year. A third report, however, suggests that April's moderation might prove only a brief pause and that growth will soon return to a level likely to increase inflationary pressures. The NAPM's index of business activity advanced more than many economists had expected ....However, the group's prices-paid index declined (Washington Post, page C2)_____Industry index in unexpected May rebound; the report counters data showing slower growth ....(New York Times, page D1)_____Manufacturing strength picked up in May in a sign the economy's April showdown may have been short-lived ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2). Black male workers are lagging even further behind their white counterparts, despite the past several years of strong economic growth. Blue-collar workers face particularly daunting odds, says a Wall Street Journal article by Christina Duff (page A2) ....Though the latest expansion has helped both blacks and whites, it hasn't done much to narrow the gap between them. Black workers are making just 76. 5 percent of what white workers make per week -- down from the 78 percent they made in 1990. Black males, in particular, are losing ground, especially if they didn't attend college -- and only about 14 percent did ....The article says that a long-term shift in the workplace is part of what's holding back lower-skilled black men: an emphasis on so-called "soft skills" ....Charts include median weekly wages in 1996 dollars for black men: earnings of blacks as a percentage of the earnings of whites, men, and women; unemployment rates of black men and white men; and additional earnings of black male college graduates vs. black male high school graduates (Wall Street Journal, page A2). The administration kicked off an educational campaign aimed at convincing small businesses to provide at least some form of retirement benefits for an estimated 32 million workers. The program is aimed at the majority of small businesses with fewer than 100 employees that do not provide any form of pension for their employees. Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman announced the effort saying, "There are more than 5 million firms with fewer than 100 workers, but only slightly more than 1 million of these small firms offer pension plans to their employees" ....(Washington Post, page C1). A new survey said more U.S. manufacturers plan to increase hiring this year, reflecting continued strength in the U.S. job market. The study, by Grant Thornton, LLP, Chicago, said 59 percent of U.S. manufacturers plan to add full-time permanent production employees this year, up from 46 percent a year earlier. About 32 percent say they plan to keep full-time staff size the same, while 7 percent plan to cut payrolls ....(Wall Street Journal, page A10). Workers placed by temporary agencies rose to 1.87 percent of the average daily U.S. employment in 1996, from 1.78 percent the previous year and 1.01 percent in 1991, the National Association of Temporary and Staffing Services in Alexandria, Va., says. The figure hasn't reached 2 percent, "despite 2.3 million temporary people on any given day," an NATSS spokesman says (Wall Street Journal "Work Week" column, page A1). The computer software business has risen by a rapid 12.5 percent a year to become America's third-largest manufacturing industry, according to an industry-sponsored study. It generated revenues of $102.8 billion last year, and the industry's 619,400 employees earned an average of $57,300, more than twice the national average pay of $27,900 ....The study, sponsored by the Business Software Alliance and done by Nathan Associates of Arlington, Va., is partly a lobbying tool ....Calculating size and employment is tricky in most industries, but especially so in high-technology fields. The industry classifications used in government statistics were set long ago ....Software, for example, has been defined as a service for years, but when new classifications are adopted in 2000 it will be defined as a manufacturing industry. Still, the survey tried to be reasonably conservative in its definition of the software industry. It included only three of nine possible categories in the broad grouping of government industry statistics called "computer programming, data processing and other computer services" ....(New York Times, page D2). A record number of tourists visited the United States in 1996, the Commerce Department said ....The department attributed the increase, after three straight years of decline, partly to improving economies in Canada and Mexico (Washington Post, page C1). In "Overeducated and Underpaid" on the op-ed page of the New York Times, Thomas Geoghegan, a labor lawyer, uses BLS figures on income by education and on the percentage of college graduates in "non-college jobs" ....After using examples of what BLS defines as a college job, Geoghegan says that, in many such occupations, a "college job" is just one where the boss prefers to hire someone with a college degree, and someone with a B.A. in fact takes the job ....The main point of the author is that the U.S. should be making non-college jobs more attractive by making non-college work better paid -- through union power and collective bargaining ....
