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_01BE85AD.D1122D90 BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1999 __Finished producer prices rose a moderate 0.2 percent in March, despite a sharp rise in oil prices, BLS reports. "The 0.2 percent increase surprised me," says a senior economist with the WEFA Group in Eddystone, Pa. "I was expecting more than that because of the increases in oil prices we have been seeing. My guess is, we will see an as big or bigger increase next month," because of continued upward price pressure from petroleum products. ... But he does not expect a sustained upswing in producer inflation. Although oil prices will continue to rise for the next 2 months, the increase is not going to be significant, he says. Except for oil, inflation as reflected by the producer price index was well contained in March. The core PPI rate -- excluding energy and food prices which often have wide monthly fluctuations -- was unchanged in both February and March. In the year ended in March, the core rose 1.7 percent. ... "The big story [in March] is the across-the-board increase in petroleum prices," says Joseph Kowal, a BLS economist. "Petroleum prices rose at the finished, intermediate, and crude levels. Crude petroleum advanced 27.1 percent." ... Kowal also is quoted as saying: "In March, the core intermediate index edged up 0.1 percent, its first increase since November 1997." ... (Daniel J. Roy in Daily Labor Report, page D-1). __Despite sharp increases in world oil prices, producer prices for finished goods rose a modest 0.2 percent last month as falling prices for new cars, light trucks, computers, and other goods offset most of the rise in energy costs. So-called core producer prices were unchanged and haven't risen in any month so far this year. ... Producer prices for finished goods are those charged by a producer when a completed item is first sold to a customer. In many cases, they are the same as wholesale prices, but in other instances, such as when manufacturers sell directly to individuals or to distributors that supply wholesalers, they are not. ... (John M. Berry in Washington Post, April 10, page E1). __Producer prices rose less than expected last month as the biggest increase in oil prices since the Persian Gulf crisis in 1990-91 was offset by falling prices for computers and a variety of other products. ... (Bloomberg News story in New York Times, April 10, page B2). __Slightly higher oil prices helped to nudge up producer prices in March, but inflation remained subdued. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2). The struggle the U.S. military has recruiting sailors, soldiers, and pilots serves as a warning to U.S. business. The 35,000-person military shortfall has been blamed on low pay and a job-rich economy that gives young workers other options. But demographics are at the root of the shortfall and it's about to engulf the private sector. The birth rate dropped in the years 1965-77, causing the number of workers ages 20 to 24 to fall 13 percent during the 1980s. The impact was first felt on the industries that depend on hiring the young, such as retailing, high-tech, and the military. Most other industries, though they complain about labor shortages, have been shielded by a 22 percent growth in workers ages 22-25 from 1980 to 1990 and a 55 percent growth in workers 35-44. But from 1990 to 2006, the percentage of workers 25-34 will shrink 9 percent, and those 30-44 will slip 3 percent. .... (USA Today, page 1B). Are women earning as much as men when they have similar qualifications and hold the same job? It depends on whom you ask, says Michelle Singletary in The Washington Post feature "The Color of Money" (April 11, page H2). ... When you factor in differences in age, experience, education, and time off from the workplace, the wage gap between women and men is far smaller than commonly reported, the researchers for "Women's Figures: An Illustrated Guide to the Economic Progress of Women in America" concluded. ... But if women are earning less then men doing the same job, it could be because the women have chosen to spend more time with their children and as a result are not working as long or as hard as their male colleagues, one of the authors says. But the executive director of the National Committee on Pay Equity says, "And are they saying that women can't have children and have pay equity? That's absurd. Men have children and get paid fairly. Why doesn't that apply to women? Millions of American women and their families are being shortchanged every payday, because working women are paid just 74 cents for every dollar men earn." ... (Washington Post, April 11, page H2). 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