[PEN-L:530] BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D]

This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.

------ =_NextPart_000_01BDF842.88F55160
        charset="iso-8859-1"

BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1998

RELEASED TODAY:  The U.S. Import Price Index declined 0.1 percent in
September.  The decrease was attributable to the ongoing decline in
nonpetroleum import prices.  The U.S. Export Price Index fell 0.5
percent in September, as both agricultural and non-agricultural export
prices declined. ... 

In a move expected to signal the biggest round of layoffs on Wall Street
in several years, Merrill Lynch & Co. will cut 3,400 full-time jobs and
900 consultants who were working full time for the big securities firm.
.... (Wall Street Journal, page C1; Daily Labor Report, page A-8; New
York Times, page A1)_____Merrill's business suffered both because of
problems in far-flung emerging markets and because of the sharp drop in
new stock and bond sales on behalf of corporations at home. ...
(Washington Post, page F1).

The gender gap in math and science appears to be waning, but now a new
one has emerged:  the technology gap.  A report by the American
Association of University Women's Educational Foundation found that
girls lag behind boys in the number and level of computer courses they
enroll in, a gap that persists through college and into the lucrative
technology career market. ... The AAUW report does not include
information on minorities in technology education, but researchers at
Carnegie Mellon University say the minority gap is at least as
troubling.  Another problem noted in the new report:  Two-thirds of all
minimum wage-earners are women, a figure unchanged from a decade ago.
.... (Washington Post, page A4)_____According to the AAUW data, girls
tend to cluster in lower-end data entry and word processing classes -
the 1990s version of typing.  Boys tend to take more challenging roles,
such as computer programming and problem solving. ... (USA Today, page
4D).

A series of studies done by the AFL-CIO to measure union membership as a
percentage of the workforce in given industries and geographic areas is
aimed at "creating a map" of organized labor that the federation hopes
it can use to better allocate its organizing resources in the future,
several federation officials told BNA. ... The studies were done using
government data and information gathered from a survey of the
affiliates. ... For now, the studies are aimed at providing AFL-CIO
officials with information. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-11).

DUE OUT TOMORROW:  Producer Price Indexes -- September 1998


------ =_NextPart_000_01BDF842.88F55160
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------ =_NextPart_000_01BDF842.88F55160--