[PEN-L:182] BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D]

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BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1998

When there's a sudden surge in sales of goods in the United States,
business inventories play the role of shock absorbers:  Retailers,
wholesalers, and producers all can draw on their stocks of unsold items
to meet their customers' needs and not lose sales, writes John M. Berry
in the Washington Post's "Trendlines."  Then new orders flow back down
the chain, producers increase their output, and all the players rebuild
their inventories, probably to an even higher level if the additional
sales seem likely to continue.  When sales hit a pothole, however,
inventories don't absorb the shock to the economy; rather, they can
magnify it....  Stocks of unsold goods in the first quarter of this year
rose by a record $106 billion.  Production of those goods helped boost
the nation's first-quarter growth rate, but slower inventory building in
the second quarter likely trimmed growth by a comparable amount....    

The administration plans to unveil a new type of government savings bond
today, with a return that will rise and fall with inflation to protect
investors' gains as well as to help finance the Federal debt....  They
will be promoted as an attractive means for middle-income people to
prepare for retirement or a child's education....  In January 1997, the
Treasury Department introduced its first inflation-indexed bonds, which
were generally intended for large institutional investors....
Investors' earnings from the new bonds will be determined by two rates.
One rate, set by the Treasury Department, will remain the same for the
life of the bond.  The second, a rate of inflation, will be determined
every six months by BLS to reflect changes in a version of the CPI,
according to the New York Times article....  (New York Times, page A19;
Wall Street Journal, page C28).

Oilfield workers acquire status in the current labor shortage, says The
New York Times (page D1), pointing out that a "roughneck" or laborer on
an oil rig does physically demanding and dangerous work that is, at
times, technically challenging....  With starting pay of $9 to $13 an
hour, and with shifts that can last 12 hours - a typical schedule is 14
days on, 14 days off - a worker can eventually make more than $200 a day
working on an offshore platform....  A chart credited to BLS shows U.S.
oilfield and gas field workers, 1974-98.

DUE OUT TOMORROW: Employer Costs for Employee Compensation -- March 1998


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