BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2000
RELEASED TODAY: The U.S. Import Price Index fell 0.5 percent in October.
The decrease was attributable to a decline in petroleum import prices. The
Export Price Index declined 0.1 percent in October. ...
The number of working women between the ages of 18 and 62 enrolled in a
pension or retirement plan with their current employer increased from 43
percent to 45 percent between 1989 and 1998, while the number of men in the
same age group enrolled in retirement plans dropped from 53 percent to 52
percent, evidencing a narrowing of the "pension gender gap," according to
the Employee Benefits Research Institute. Its study, "Women and Pensions:
A Decade of Progress?," is based on the Federal Reserve's 1989 and 1998
survey of consumer finances. Authors Vickie L. Bajtelsmit and Nancy A.
Jianakoplos, both EBRI fellows, found that 41 percent of families were
covered by a pension plan in 1998 -- a rate that has been "gradually
improving over time." ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-4).
Uneven state standards cause serious gaps in child care in the U.S., says
Sue Shellenbarger in The Wall Street Journal's "Work & Family" feature (page
B1). ... Gaping differences state-by-state in price, quality, and
availability of child care often exceed the regional contrasts found in
schools, universities, and medical care. ... Families in the U.S. have
never been more susceptible to child-care risk. ... For the first time,
both parents are working in a majority of married couple families. Also,
the number of children in non-relative care, mainly outside their own homes,
rose to 54 percent in 1995 from 51 percent in 1985. The trend is driven not
only by mothers working, but also by families seeking social and educational
experiences for preschoolers. ...
For the first time in more than a decade, single mothers are more likely
than married mothers to be employed, new government statistics show. ...
Even more remarkable, economists say, is the increase in work among single
mothers who have never been married. In 1993, 44 percent of them were
employed. The figure shot up to 65 percent last year. ... The new numbers
are from the Labor Department and the Census Bureau. ... Economists give
several reasons for the increase in work among single mothers. The strong
economy has created millions of jobs and improved the quality of low-wage
jobs. Welfare recipients are now required to work under federal and state
welfare laws, and states have sharply increased spending on child care. The
federal government and the states have adopted policies of "make work pay,"
in a phrase used by proponents of such policies. As a result, many single
mothers find they are financially better off if they take a job outside the
home. Work has also become more attractive because of increases in the
minimum wage and the earned income tax credit. ... Last year, the
proportion of single mothers with jobs reached 71.5 percent, exceeding the
68 percent for married mothers. The figure for single mothers also exceeded
that for married mothers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but, in those
years, married women were less likely to work outside the home. ... (New
York Times, Nov. 5, page A22).
The average starting salary for recent college graduates climbed in October
to $37,268, up 2.3 percent from the same period last year, Internet
job-listing service Jobtrak.com reports. The Los Angeles-based service,
which is marketed to college career centers, says the total number of job
openings for recent college graduates is up 3.9 percent since October 1999.
... The largest increase in the number of job openings for entry-level
workers' jobs was in the education sector, which saw demand for teachers
rise 39.4 percent above last year's levels. Salaries in the education
sector were flat, however. Demand for college graduates in engineering jobs
also was strong with the number of posted job openings growing 31.4 percent
from last year. The average starting salary for engineers rose 3.9 percent.
... (Daily Labor Report, page A-3).
With unemployment at a 40-year low, why are blue-collar workers feeling so
insecure? The answer, a recent Cornell University study asserts, has to do
with globalization. The report, published in September, concluded that,
even in good times, a significant number of employers use the threat of
shutting down and moving offshore to prevent workers from organizing, says
Kate L. Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell. ...
Using survey information and documents obtained under the Freedom of
Information Act, the researcher said that employers facing a unionization
movement typically rely on a combination of intimidation, bribes, and
surveillance to aggressively oppose the efforts. ... (Business Week, Nov.
13, page 42D).
The Association for Manufacturing Technology contends that much of the value
of productivity gains come from improved quality and durability of
manufactured goods, says Business Week (Nov. 13, page 42L). ... Products
are better because components are better. Parts today are made to ever-more
stringent-standards. When you buy a car now, you practically won't have to
open the hood for the first 100,000 miles. Car maintenance costs dropped 28
percent between 1985 and 1998. ... While the consumer price index increased
73 percent between 1982 and 1999, the price index for durable goods
increased only 35 percent. Durable-goods prices actually declined between
1996 and 1999. ...
President Clinton taps Leah D. Daughtry to be acting assistant secretary of
labor for administration and management following the retirement of Patricia
W. Lattimore, who held the post of assistant secretary for the past 3 years.
Daughtry has been a senior adviser to Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman since
1997. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-9).
DUE OUT TOMORROW:
Producer Price Indexes -- October 2000
Report on Quality Changes in 2001 Model Vehicles
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