BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1999
RELEASED TODAY: The number of employed youth increased by 2.8 million from
April to July, the traditional summertime peak for youth employment. This
year's seasonal expansion in employment of 16- to 24-year-olds was slightly
larger than the 2.5 million increase in the summer of 1998, but about the
same as the summer increase in 1997. The number of unemployed young people,
which also grows at this time of the year, rose by 484,000 between April and
July. ...
Wage data from newly negotiated contracts compiled by the Bureau of National
Affairs in the first 34 weeks of 1999 show that the weighted average
increase was 3.4 percent, and the median first-year increase for settlements
reported to date in 1999 was 3 percent. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-1).
Orders for durable goods vaulted ahead in July, and sales of existing homes,
though slowed by rising mortgage rates, still managed to post their
third-best month ever. The Commerce Department said orders for durable
goods -- items expected to last more than 3 years -- rose 3.3 percent last
month. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing
single-family homes declined 3.9 percent in July. ... (Washington Post,
page E2)_____Analysts said the sharp increase in orders to U.S. factories
did not suggest inflationary pressures of the kind that the Federal Reserve
moved to head off earlier this week. The rise in production of such durable
goods as cars, airplanes, and computers was offset by a drop in the sale of
existing houses. While the drop in housing sales tells only part of the
story because residential real estate represents a much smaller portion of
the economy than does manufacturing, analysts said that several other
factors left them optimistic. ... (New York Times, page C8)_____The
manufacturing sector sprinted ahead in July, signaling the U.S. economy
isn't winded. The jump in new orders for durable goods confirmed the
worries of the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates earlier this
week to keep the economy from overheating. The July increase in durable
goods was the 11th consecutive rise and the largest since December, when
orders grew 3.4 percent. Separately, the housing market shows no real signs
of slowing despite rising mortgage rates. The drop may reflect reluctance
by some cost-conscious shoppers as mortgage rates rise. ... (Wall Street
Journal, page A2).
With the carrot of the lowest jobless rate in decades and the stick of the
new welfare-to-work law, the number of welfare recipients has shrunk by 7
million since the peak in 1994, according to data from the Department of
Health and Human Services shown in graph form to illustrate an article on
welfare reform. ... (New York Times, page C1).
DUE OUT TOMORROW: International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity
and Unit Labor Cost Trends, 1998
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