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BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 1999:
RELEASED TODAY: Labor productivity in manufacturing increased during 1997
in all of the 11 countries for which comparable data are available, with the
increases ranging from 0.5 percent in the United Kingdom to 6.8 percent in
France. Labor productivity (output per hour) in U.S. manufacturing
increased 4.2 percent during 1997. Canada and the U.K. reversed the
productivity declines they had experienced in 1996. ...
__The fear that price deflation will cut profits has made manufacturers more
pessimistic about the U.S. economy in 1999 than they were a year earlier,
says a National Association of Manufacturers survey. "Manufacturers are
less buoyant today than they were a year ago, and it is clear we are
starting to feel the effects of the global financial crisis in the form of
falling prices that may eat into profits," says the NAM president. ...
Nearly half (43.4 percent) of respondents expect their profits to decrease
in 1999, the survey finds. More than one third (34.4 percent) said earnings
will grow by up to 5 percent. About 10 percent said the rate of earnings
will advance by more than 10 percent, while 8.2 percent predicted they will
increase by 6 to 8 percent. Yet only 12.7 percent expected to reduce
employment in 1999, while 27 percent predicted they would add full-time
permanent jobs in their companies. ... "On the more positive side, our
contention that inflation is all but dead in the new economy seems to be
bearing out, with almost two out of three firms (64.2 percent) predicting
inflation of 2 percent or less," the NAM president said. "Two years ago,
just 30 percent estimated inflation would be that low." ... (Daily Labor
Report, page A-2).
__Predicting slower economic growth in the U.S. and abroad, the nation's top
manufacturing lobby said more of its members expect prices of their goods to
decline this year, pinching profit margins and "significantly" curtailing
investment in new equipment and workers. The National Association of
Manufacturers, in a survey of 2,500 of its members, said 44.2 percent of
those polled said prices of their final products are falling, compared with
28 percent in last year's survey. As a result, more members expect their
earnings growth to decrease: 43.4 percent, compared with 38 percent a year
ago. The survey polled a sample of the NAM's broader member base. Half of
the respondents were companies with 500 or more employees, half had 500 or
fewer workers. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2).
Longer work hours, fears of downsizing, and a nationwide shift toward more
demanding service jobs are prompting new concerns over workplace stress and
its association with adverse health effects such as heart disease, the
director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says.
.... Much of the nation's job growth is occurring in the service industry, a
sector that traditionally has received less attention from the occupational
health community than more hazardous but declining industries such as
mining. ... Between 1996 and 2006, the fastest growing industries are
expected to create jobs that are among the more stressful in the national
economy: Computer and data processing jobs are projected to grow 108
percent, and the number of health services jobs is projected to increase 68
percent. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-4).
Hiring prospects for many workers will stagnate or wane during the spring,
according to projections from 198 respondents to the Bureau of National
Affairs' latest quarterly employment survey. Job opportunities for
technical and professional employees will decline for a third consecutive
quarter, to their lowest levels since early 1997. Office and clerical
prospects are little changed from 3 months ago, but well below levels
reached in mid-1998. Also, the job outlook for production and service staff
has shown only modest movement since late 1997. The risk of job loss still
appears slim, however, as few employers report workers on layoff or imminent
reductions-in-force. ... Though hiring prospects have diminished somewhat
in recent months, workers' job security is likely to remain solid through
the spring. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-1).
More than half of teenagers with jobs work in food service or in positions
requiring manual labor, according to a study of 500 teenagers by Merrill
Lynch ("Work Week" feature of Wall Street Journal, page A1).
DUE OUT TOMORROW: Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment, January
1999
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[PEN-L:4378] BLS Daily Report
Richardson_D Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:01:52 -0500boundary="----_=_NextPart_000_01BE707E.AEEBE900"
