BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2000
RELEASED TODAY: Regional and state unemployment rates were stable in
October. All four regions posted virtually no change over the month, and 41
states and the District of Columbia recorded shifts of 0.3 percentage point
or less. The national jobless rate was unchanged from September at 3.9
percent. Nonfarm employment increased in 33 states and the District of
Columbia in October. ...
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in its biannual
economic survey, predicts that gross domestic product will grow by a
cumulative 4.3 percent this year across member countries. OECD says this
growth rate will slow to a more modest 3.3 percent in 2001 before bottoming
out at 3.1 percent in 2002. The U.S. economy, which has led the world in
economic growth for much of the past decade, will finally achieve the "soft
landing" that the OECD has been calling for, with economic growth cooling
considerably, according to the organization's report. ... Unemployment,
which is predicted to be about 4 percent this year, will rise gradually in
2001 to 4.2 percent before reaching 4.5 percent in 2002. Similarly,
inflation, estimated at 2.1 percent in 2000, will creep upward to 2.2
percent in 2001 and 2.3 percent in 2002, OECD says. ... (Daily Labor
Report, page A-8; Washington Post, page E2)_____In its 6-month review of the
economy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says it
expects growth to remain solid for the next 2 years, but warns that high oil
prices could cloud the outlook. The report also says the Federal Reserve
Board might need to raise interest rates another half-point to keep U.S.
inflation in check. ... (New York Times, page C2).
The New York Times profiles a family on page A22 that it describes as "an
average American family in nearly every way, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics". There are two children, both parents work, and they
earned about $40,000 combined last year, slightly more than the year before.
The television set is new, and the miles are their cars are piling up. They
have no health insurance and do not own a house. The biggest difference
between them and millions of other working families is their occupation.
"Trapeze artists," their tax forms read.
Auto sales, often a leading indicator of the economy's health, have slowed
since the beginning of the month, prompting carmakers to increase their
already deep discounts and to consider additional temporary closings of
factories, industry officials said today. General Motors and the Chrysler
unit of DaimlerChrysler have already closed some factories for a week at a
time and appear likely to announce further temporary closings soon. Ford
Motor has avoided closing factories so far, except because of parts
shortages, but its officials have been warning that the entire industry is
slowing. And even foreign automakers are seeing some weakness in sales and
have been offering many discounts. ... (New York Times, page C1).
As high-tech jobs go oversees, unions see an opportunity, says the "Work
Week" column of The Wall Street Journal (page A1). Nervous U.S. workers
often turn to organized labor. "Services will go global, much the way
manufacturing did," says the CEO of Talisma Corp., a Kirkland, Wash., firm
that outsources customer service functions to Bangalore, India. "Without
any organization, there's no question it's going to happen," he says.
Companies that provide more stock-based incentive compensation to employees
also tend to deliver higher shareholder return, says a survey of 173
companies over 5 years by Hewitt Associations LLC, a Lincolnshire, Ill.,
consulting concern (Wall Street Journal's "Work Week" feature, page A1).
Despite the vibrant economy, few people receive sizable raises these days,
concludes a survey by Fortune Personnel Consultants in New York. Nearly 75
percent of 631 employees from various industries said they received less
than a 10 percent pay increase over the previous year. Among those
employees, 37 percent received less than 5 percent, while 34.6 percent
received between 5 and 9 percent. Survey participants had at least a
college degree and made at least $50,000 annually. Gen-Xers fared the best.
Among employees at companies with fewer than 100 staffers, 41 percent
received no raise -- compared with only 12.7 percent of those working at
concerns employing 10,000 or more (Wall Street Journal's "Career Journal,"
page B18).
DUE OUT TOMORROW: Extended Mass Layoffs in the Third Quarter of 2000
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