BLS DAILY REPORT, JUNE 9, 2000
RELEASED TODAY: The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods showed no
change in May, seasonally adjusted. This followed a 0.3 percent decrease in
April and a 1.0 percent gain in March. ... Among finished goods, the rate
of decline in prices for finished energy goods slowed from 4.1 percent in
April to 0.5 percent in May. The index for finished consumer goods
excluding foods and energy rose 0.2 percent in May, after edging up 0.1
percent in the previous month. By contrast, the index for finished consumer
foods turned down 0.2 percent, following a 1.0 percent gain a month ago.
Capital equipment prices increased 0.1 percent, after rising 0.2 percent in
April. ...
__After taking into account their length of time in the labor force and
other factors, women still earn less than men, BLS Commissioner Katharine
Abraham told a Senate panel June 8. Abraham said the latest estimation of
median weekly earnings in 1999 of women who worked full time was nearly 77
percent of the median pay for men who worked full time. Abraham was
responding to a question posed by Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions Chairman Jim M. Jeffords (R-Vt.) during a hearing on
gender-based wage discrimination. Jeffords asked whether the so-called
"gender pay gap" is a result of widespread employment discrimination or
other factors. BLS publishes regular earnings reports on pay by gender. "It
is important to note that these often-cited ratios are not adjusted to take
into account differences between women and men in their levels of education
and work experience, their occupations, or the many other factors that may
influence earnings," she said. Productivity-related statistics --
education, labor market experience, occupation, and industry -- help explain
the gender pay gap, she said, although a significant part of the gap remains
"unexplained." ... (Linda Roeder in Daily Labor Report, page A-8).
__An old issue -- the pay gap between men and women -- got a fresh hearing
on Capitol Hill, for the first time since the 1970s. An all-female panel of
economists, analysts, and lawyers, half conservative and half liberal,
debated at a Senate hearing why women earn, on average, only 76.5 percent of
what men make, up from 62.5 percent in 1979. Then, women were just
beginning their surge into the work force and had not attained the
management roles many hold today, both sides agreed. ... To the liberals on
the panel, the issue was clear: Discrimination and undervaluation of work
done primarily by women require government intervention. ... To the
conservatives, it was equally clear: Women have made enormous workplace
gains, but they earn less because of their own choices, not because of
discrimination. ... (Kirstin Downey Grimsley in Washington Post, page E3).
__A resurgence in petroleum prices pushed up the cost of goods imported into
the United States in May 0.6 percent, BLS reported. After 2 months of
falling oil prices, the cost of imported petroleum shot up 6.5 percent in
May. In April, oil prices dropped a revised 11.8 percent and in March
slipped 0.7 percent. Before March, however, oil prices skyrocketed. ...
Prices of goods exported from the United States rose 0.2 percent in May,
after dipping 0.1 percent in April. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-3).
__The prices businesses pay for imported goods, excluding petroleum, fell in
May for the first time in almost a year, suggesting that inexpensive imports
are helping to keep inflation contained. ... (Bloomberg News in New York
Times, page C22).
New claims filed with state agencies for unemployment insurance benefits
climbed by 20,000 to a total of 309,000 after seasonal adjustment, the Labor
Department's Employment and Training Administration reports. It was the
highest weekly total since the week ended Jan. 8, when new claims came to
310,000. The most recent employment report from BLS showed a drop in
private industry jobs, with the jobless rate moving back up to 4.1 percent
in May. But most analysts expect private industry payroll expansion to
resume at a moderate pace in the months ahead, as labor markets remain tight
across the country. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_____A
larger-than-expected number of Americans filed new claims for unemployment
benefits last week, pushing applications to their highest level since the
beginning of the year. Many economists believe the increase mostly
reflected a seasonal fluke and said that, among other things, they would
need to see a sustained rise in claims to conclude that the supercharged
economy is really slowing. ... (Washington Post, page E2).
Import prices excluding petroleum fell last month and weekly unemployment
claims rose, easing concerns on the inflation front. ... For most of the
long economic expansion in the U.S., falling import prices have helped to
keep inflation in check. Today's producer price index report and next
week's consumer price index are expected to have a strong influence on Fed
action at the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee at the end of
the month. ... The unexpected jump in last week's initial jobless claims
may be due to effects of the Memorial Day weekend. Holidays can inflate
weekly unemployment reports and make seasonal adjustment more difficult
(Nicholas Kulish in Wall Street Journal, page A2).
One out of three respondents to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll say rising
interest rates have put a crimp in their spending -- another indication that
the Federal Reserve's interest rate increases are affecting consumers. In a
June 6-7 telephone survey of 1,059 adults, 34 percent said they had decided
to put off buying big-ticket items in the wake of the Fed's action. Among
lower-income consumers, the impact was even greater: More than 40 percent
of those making less than $30,000 a year said the rising rates have affected
their decisions on large purchases. Nationwide, 78 percent of those
surveyed said they are increasingly aware of the rising rates on everything
from home and car loans to credit cards. The poll has a margin of error of
plus or minus 3 percentage points. ... (USA Today, page 1B).
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