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_01BE7480.199F7070 BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1999 RELEASED TODAY: Regional and state unemployment rates remained relatively stable in February. All four regions reported little or no change in their jobless rates from January, and 42 states and the District of Columbia recorded shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less. The national jobless rate was essentially unchanged at 4.4 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment rose in 38 states. ... Consumer prices rose a mild 0.1 percent in February, but the core CPI was quiescent. February marked the third consecutive month that the CPI-U rose just 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, the BLS reports. In the year ended in February, the CPI-U increased 1.6 percent, the same gain as in all of 1998. The February CPI shows price stability even in its details. Among the eight expenditure categories in the CPI-U and the three special indexes, the sharpest gain in the month was 2 percent and the most precipitous fall was 2 percent, BLS economist Patrick Jackman says. ... The core CPI-U rate -- excluding food and energy prices, which often have wide monthly fluctuations -- rose just 0.1 percent and is up 2.1 percent for the year ended in February. The core rose 2.4 percent in 1998. ... (Daniel J. Roy in Daily Labor Report, page D-1) Real average weekly earnings were up 0.7 percent in February, after seasonal adjustment, BLS reports. February's gain stemmed from a 0.6 percent rise in average weekly hours and a 0.1 percent increase in average hourly earnings. .... (Daily Labor Report, page D-20). The trade deficit in goods and services surged 20.6 percent to a record in January as exports weakened broadly while imports rose, the Commerce Department says. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-23)_____As American exports continued to fall, the Unites States trade deficit jumped to a monthly record, fueled by a flood of imports from China that could stir further protectionist sentiments in Congress. Among the imports flowing into the U.S., Chinese-made steel surged 65 percent from December. ... (New York Times, page A1)_____Aided by a ballooning deficit with China, the U.S. trade deficit swelled to the widest gap since the Commerce Department began compiling the monthly data on good and services in 1992. With textbook simplicity, imports are up and exports are down. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2 New claims for unemployment benefits jumped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 in the week ended March 13, the Employment and Training Administration announces. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-21). The U.S. trade deficit hit a record in January as strong increases in consumer and business spending boosted imports while continuing economic woes in much of the rest of the world dragged down exports, the Commerce Department reported. ... Meanwhile, consumer prices rose 0.1 percent last month for the third month in a row, BLS said. ... And in another sign of how well the economy is doing, the Labor Department said that initial claims for unemployment benefits remained below the 300,000 mark for the seventh consecutive week, the longest such stretch in more than a quarter century. .... (John M. Berry in Washington Post, page E1; Wall Street Journal, page A4). Undercounting of minorities, particularly black, Asian-American, Hispanic, and American Indian groups, is a chronic problem for census takers, says The New York Times (page A17). Officials say they fear it could be particularly acute next year because of the big wave of immigration that has transformed urban centers like New York City and Los Angeles since the last national head count in 1990. ... The census agency has already hired about 300 of the 600 people it eventually wants to put on the streets nationwide to promote and explain the census to immigrant groups. The workers are an eclectic bunch that includes people of Russian, Haitian, Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese, and Portuguese backgrounds. By the time the census questionnaires are mailed out on April 1, 2000, officials said, an additional 15,000 people will be hired for temporary part-time work in census assistance centers, where explanatory material will be available in 32 languages. The census form itself will be printed in six languages, although Congressional critics of the Census Bureau's plans want them in many more languages. ... Workers say the ability to balance work and family life is more important than any other job factor, according to a Work Trends Survey. The poll of 1,000 adult workers was conducted by the John L. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University and the Center for Survey Research Analysis at the University of Connecticut ... A reason for this concern may be that 46 percent of Americans spend more than 40 hours a week on the job, with 18 percent working more than 50 hours a week, survey results showed. ... The survey also found that even though there is high job satisfaction and the country is experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, workers still are concerned with job security and are finding work stressful. ... 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[PEN-L:4475] BLS Daily Report
Richardson_D Mon, 22 Mar 1999 11:22:23 -0500boundary="----_=_NextPart_000_01BE7480.199F7070"