[PEN-L:4318] BLS Daily Report

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BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1999

RELEASED TODAY:  The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.4
percent in February, seasonally adjusted.  This decline followed increases
of 0.5 percent in January and 0.4 percent in December. ...  Prices for
finished consumer foods and finished energy goods turned down, following
increases in January.  The index for finished goods other than foods and
energy showed no change, after posting a 0.1 percent decline in the previous
month, as an upturn in the index for capital equipment was offset by a
decline in prices for finished consumer goods other than foods and energy.
....  Prices received by producers of intermediate goods decreased 0.5
percent, following a 0.1 percent increase in the prior month.  The crude
goods index dropped 3.4 percent, after registering a 2.6 percent advance a
month earlier.

__The price of goods imported into the United States dipped 0.1 percent in
February, with the cost of both petroleum and nonpetroleum products
declining, BLS announces.  Export prices also declined in February, slipping
0.1 percent. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page D-6).
__The deficit in the broadest measure of U.S. trade swelled dramatically
last year, as the economy felt the full impact of the global financial
turmoil.  The Commerce Department reported that the current account deficit
widened to a record. ...  The deep devaluation of Asian currencies is
continuing to hold down the value of Asia's shipments to the U.S., but the
volume of those goods has increased.  Reflecting this, the Labor Department
reported that U.S. import prices fell 0.1 percent in February, following a
revised 0.3 percent rise in January. ...  (Helene Cooper in Wall Street
Journal, page A2).

New claims for unemployment benefits increased by 1,000 to a seasonally
adjusted 289,000 in the week ended March 6, the Employment and Training
Administration of the Department of Labor has announced. ...  (Daily Labor
Report, page D-4)_____The weekly unemployment benefit claims figures have
been under 300,000 for 6 consecutive weeks, indicating plenty of jobs in the
world's largest economy. ...  (New York Times, page C6; Wall Street Journal,
page A2).

Across-the-board increases pushed February retail sales ahead 0.9 percent,
according to data released by the Commerce Department.  Noting that the
report from Commerce showed that retail sales were "strong, strong, strong"
economist David Orr said the upward revision to January's figures was
expected but the degree was not.  The largest part of January's revision was
for auto dealers, he said. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_____The Great
American Shopping Spree just keeps charging on.  Retail spending in February
rose a strong 0.9 percent from the month before, the seventh straight month
of increases.  Spending was up 7.3 percent from February 1998.  And the
government also revised upward its estimate of January retail sales, saying
spending that month rose 1 percent, not 0.2 percent as estimated earlier.
....  (Washington Post, page E1)_____Consumers went on a spending spree in
February, snapping up new cars, clothing, and furniture.  The report showed
a still-vigorous expansion despite a weak global economy.  Some analysts
said robust spending might make Federal Reserve officials uneasy about
potential price rises but only moderately so, since other gauges of activity
show only muted inflation. ...  (New York Times, page C6)_____Retail sales
shot up, as balmy weather inspired consumers to spend more time in the mall
and less time in front of the fireplace. ...  (Wall Street Journal, page A2)

Women leaving welfare for work face major obstacles to attaining well-paid
jobs because they lack skill training, two Educational Testing Service
economists have found.  "In an economy where the real job growth, earnings
potential and employer-provided training are in higher skilled occupations,
the missing link between work and economic success is skill," according to
ETS's vice president who co-authored the study.  More time on the job will
not necessarily increase low-skilled workers' earnings -- unless they are
placed in work with employer-provided training, the study concluded. ...
(Daily Labor Report, page A-11).

Even while prices on everything from clothing to computer chips steadily
decline, the cost of getting an education continues to rise, whether the
sought-after institution is a private Ivy League college, a public
university, or a popular preschool.  In recent weeks, private universities
have been announcing tuition for the 1999-2000 academic year, and the
increases -- which range between 3 and 5 percent -- are more than double the
annual rate of inflation.  Private grade schools and preschools are boosting
tuition as much as 7 percent.  Public universities, which depend on state
legislation to determine tuition, won't release new fees until the summer.
However, previous increases have tended to be slightly lower than private
school increases, but still above inflation. ...  Between 1988 and 1998, the
College Board reports, tuition at private, 4-year colleges nearly doubled.
....  (Wall Street Journal, page A2).

Several recent studies indicating that U.S. immigration policy has an
adverse impact on American blacks and Hispanics with less than a high school
education are challenged by several civil rights and labor leaders who
question the motives of Republican lawmakers who have called for changes.
....  The studies were outlined at a hearing by the House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, chaired by Rep. Smith (R-Texas), who
says solutions should be found that "protect the jobs and wages of recent
immigrants, and black and Hispanic citizens."  But the subcommittee's
ranking Democratic member, Rep. Lee (D-Texas), says recent government
figures on black and Hispanic employment do not support the argument that
minorities are harmed by immigration. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page A-2).


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