BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2000
RELEASED TODAY:
CPI -- The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased
0.2 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, following a 0.5
percent increase in September. Deceleration in the energy index -- up 0.2
percent in October, following a 3.8 percent rise in September -- was largely
responsible for the moderation in the October CPI-U. In October, the index
for petroleum-based energy declined 1.2 percent, while the index for energy
services increased 1.5 percent. The food index, which increased 0.2 percent
in September, rose 0.1 percent in October. Excluding food and energy, the
CPI-U rose 0.2 percent, following a 0.3 percent rise in September. A
smaller increase in apparel prices and a downturn in the tobacco index were
principally responsible for the more moderate advance in October. ...
REAL EARNINGS -- Real average weekly earnings were essentially unchanged
between September and October after seasonal adjustment. A 0.4 percent
increase in average hourly earnings was offset by a 0.3 percent decline in
average weekly hours and a 0.1 percent rise in the CPI-W. ... Real average
weekly earnings fell by 0.2 percent from October 1999 to October 2000. ...
BLS reports labor productivity increased in more than three-fourths of 119
U.S. manufacturing industries in 1998. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-11).
American industrial output weakened in October and businesses grew cautious
about stockpiling goods, according to two reports, adding to signs of a
gradually cooling economy. The Federal Reserve's monthly report on
industrial production showed that output by mines, factories, and utilities
fell 0.1 percent last month after an upwardly revised gain of 0.4 percent in
September. It was the first drop in monthly output since a 0.2 percent fall
in July, and only the second since the beginning of 1999. Manufacturing
stalled while the output at utilities fell. The second report, from the
Commerce Department, showed that business inventories in September were
growing at their slowest pace in nearly 2 years. Production to build
inventories is generally a source of economic strength, unless faltering
sales cause an oversupply that forces sharp cutbacks. ... (New York Times,
page C6; Wall Street Journal, page A2)_____Declines in the output of
automobile products and household appliances pushed industrial production
down 0.1 percent in October. The decline was the second in the last 4
months, although production remained 5.2 percent higher than a year ago and
was 46.3 percent above its 1992 average. ... (Daily Labor Report, page
D-1).
Federal Reserve officials, increasingly convinced that U.S. economic growth
has slowed to a sustainable pace that does not threaten to make inflation
worse, decided to leave interest rates unchanged. The Federal Open Market
Committee, the central bank's top policymaking group, also left in place its
assessment that the risk of inflation accelerating in the future continues
to outweigh the possibility that growth could slow very sharply, or that the
economy could tip into a recession. ... (Washington Post, page
E1)_____Citing clear evidence that the economy has shifted into a lower
gear, the Federal Reserve voted to hold interest rates steady, but with
unemployment low and energy prices high the central bank said it was not yet
ready to proclaim that inflation was no longer a threat. ... (New York
Times, page C1)_____The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, but
disappointed investors by dismissing growing concerns that the economy is
slowing too much and declaring that inflation -- not recession -- remains
the greater danger. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2)
A majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business
Economics expect the U.S. economy to slip into a sustainable pace of
expansion through next year. .. A soft landing is in progress, and
inflation will moderate next year as energy price pressures fall back. ...
(Daily Labor Report, page A-7).
The female-male pay gap varies greatly on a state-by-state basis, according
to a new analysis by the Institute for Women's Policy Research. Using
federal government statistics and other data, the report analyzes and ranks
women's state-by-state status in employment and earnings, as well as
"economic autonomy" -- a composite index, based on college education,
business ownership, poverty, and health insurance coverage; political
participation; and health status/reproduction rights. In terms of pay, the
report finds that women earned the highest percentage of men's wages in the
District of Columbia, 86 cents for every dollar earned by men, followed by
Hawaii, 84 cents, and Maryland and New York, each 80 cents. The lowest
earnings ratio was in Wyoming, at 63 cents, followed by Louisiana and Utah,
65 cents each, and Indiana, 67 cents. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-5).
Another study on women's compensation, released by the New York-based
Catalyst, finds that women are gaining in the ranks of corporate executives
and top wage earners. About a tenth of the Fortune 500 companies say that
women hold a quarter or more of their corporate officer titles. ... (Daily
Labor Report, page A-6).
Faced with an unforgiving stock market and a harsh business environment,
many companies are experiencing another stark reality, a lack of management
depth. As more and more chief executives are being rushed out the door by
disappointed investors and impatient boards, companies are finding that
there is a shortage of obvious candidates to fill these spots, according to
executive recruiters and management experts. Boards will be forced to reach
out more broadly for candidates than they have in the past, they say, which
may mean that women will be able to move up in these organizations more
quickly. The current shortages of managers may also cause companies to
rethink how they are grooming future executives. ... (New York Times, page
C1).
Pension participation among employees at companies with fewer than 100
employees rose from 30 percent to 37 percent from 1990 to 1999, while
participation among employees at companies with more than 100 employees held
steady at about 70 percent over the course of the decade, according to a
Congressional Research Service report. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-1).
DUE OUT TOMORROW: Average Annual Pay by State and Industry, 1999
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