BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2000
RELEASED TODAY: A total of 5.7 million injuries and illnesses were reported
in private industry workplaces during 1999, resulting in a rate of 6.3 cases
per 100 equivalent full-time workers. Employers reported a 4 percent drop
in the number of cases and a 2 percent increase in the hours worked compared
with 1998, reducing the case rate from 6.7 in 1998 to 6.3 in 1999. The rate
for 1999 was the lowest since BLS began reporting this information in the
early 1970s. ...
The economy continues to shift toward high technology, but a coming wave of
baby-boomer retirements also will boost demand for more traditional skills.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts employers will replace about 25
percent more retirees between 2003 and 2008 than they did between 1993 and
1998. Demand will be greatest for secretaries, drivers of heavy trucks,
elementary school teachers, and industrial engineers (Wall Street Journal's
"Work Life" feature, page A1).
With 6,000 Internet job sites in operation, the BLS says more than twice as
many people now look for work online than use private employment agencies.
[Based on research by outside authors published in the October 2000 Monthly
Labor Review] (The Wall Street Journal's "Work Life" feature, page A1).
The epidemic of back injuries among nurses is to be the subject of research
at a Florida veterans' hospital. ... The type of worker most prone to
having a bad back may not be a construction laborer, truck loader, of
warehouse worker -- but rather a nurse, according to figures for BLS. ...
(Daily Labor Report, page A-5).
The nation's jobless rate rose in November and third-quarter growth was its
most sluggish in 4 years. Yet the labor market remains tight and experts
say it may stay so. An employment outlook survey of 16,000 companies by
Milwaukee staffing firm Manpower Inc. found 27 percent expect to increase
staff next year while 58 percent will maintain current employment levels.
Manpower says the job market is so tight that employers who add staff for
peak business periods, such as retailers, should recruit workers year round
to stay competitive (Wall Street Journal's "Work Life" feature, page A1).
__Mirroring an expected slowdown in the nation's economy, nonfarm employment
in California, which has grown at a 3 percent or better pace for 4
consecutive years, will slow markedly in 2001 and 2002 to about half the 3.6
percent gain recorded this year, the quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast
predicts. ... Few economists expect a recession next year, although most
forecasters have lowered their growth projections in recent weeks amid
mounting reports of sluggish growth. ... (Daily Labor Report, page
A-2)_____California's economy will weaken due to the shakeout in Silicon
Valley, but it will continue to outpace the rest of the U.S., several
economists forecast. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2).
__The percentage of American workers who received health insurance coverage
through an employer increased between 1998 and 1999, the Employee Benefit
Research Institute says. According to EBRI, employers were the source of
coverage for 158.4 million Americans in 1999, up from 154.8 million in 1998.
In 1999, 73.3 percent of American workers were covered by an employer-based
health plan, up from 72.8 percent in 1998. EBRI said the expansion
continued a longer-term trend that began in 1993, and based its analysis
upon Census data. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-4).
__Employment is the most important factor in obtaining health care coverage
for most nonelderly Americans, a new survey by the Health Insurance
Association of America found. The HIAA survey found that more than three
out of five workers, or 63 percent, receive job-based coverage and nearly
three out of four workers, or 74 percent, were offered health insurance by
their employer. However, 13.6 million of the 17 million uninsured workers
were not offered health insurance by their employers, the survey found.
Lower-income workers -- especially those who work part time -- are less
likely to be offered job-based coverage and less likely to accept such
coverage if offered. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-7).
__The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance benefits will rise 11
percent next year, and many employers say they will pass on more of the
expense to workers, according to a national survey of employers. Two out of
five employers plan to deduct more money from employees' paychecks for
health benefits next year, the survey of 3,326 companies by William M.
Mercer Inc., a New York-based consulting firm, found. Last year, one in
five employers said they would increase employee health insurance payments.
... (Washington Post, page E1).
__New York benefits consultant William M. Mercer Inc. says employer
health-benefit costs rose 8.1 percent in 2000. But the job market is making
employers reluctant to pass those costs on to current workers. ... Xerox
Corp., Stamford, Conn., passed on insurance increases for 2000 but not for
2001. ... Mercer found an 11 percent drop in the number of large companies
offering retiree health coverage, though current workers were shielded.
Without a retiree medical plan, employees wait longer to retire, and that
may delay career advancement for younger workers, Mercer says (Wall Street
Journal's "Work Life" feature, page A1).
Inventories at the nation's wholesalers rose less than expected in October
and sales stalled, pointing to a cooling economy in the final three months
of 2000. Stockpiles of warehouses and distributorships increased 0.3
percent in October, according to the Commerce Department. ... (New York
Times, page C14)_____The inventories of goods held by U.S. wholesalers grew
moderately in October, adding addition weight to the view that the economy
is slowing, but not headed for a crash landing. ... (Wall Street Journal,
page A2).
DUE OUT TOMORROW: U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes -- November 2000
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