BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2001:
RELEASED TODAY: "Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter of 2000"
indicates that in the fourth quarter of 2000, there were 1,905 mass layoff
actions by employers that resulted in the separation of 374,320 workers from
their jobs for more than 30 days, according to preliminary figures. Both
the total number of layoff events and the number of separations were higher
than in October-December 1999. For all of 2000, however, extended mass
layoff events, at 5,522, and the number of worker separations, at 1,117,183,
were lower than any other year since the program began in the second quarter
of 1995.
The consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U advanced 0.6 percent
in January amid higher prices for natural gas and tobacco products, the
Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. The core CPI-U,
which excludes the volatile prices for energy and food, rose a slightly
higher than expected 0.3 percent. Most of the rise in consumer prices can
be attributed to the 17.4 percent increase in prices for natural gas during
January, BLS says. For the year ended in January, natural gas prices were
up 59.3 percent. The chief economist at Lehman Brothers, New York, says
that although the overall increase in the CPI was significant in January,
the latest reports show most energy prices falling over the next several
months, removing most inflationary concerns. (Daily Labor Report, page D-8).
A record surge in residential natural gas prices caused the consumer price
index to shoot up 0.6 percent last month, the largest monthly rise since
last March, the Labor Department reported yesterday. (John M. Berry, in The
Washington Post, page E1).
Americans paid sharply higher prices for energy in January, causing
inflation at the consumer level to rise at its quickest pace in 10 months,
the government reported yesterday (The New York Times, page C1).).
The inflation-adjusted weekly earnings of most U.S. workers failed to grow
in January, as hourly pay was unchanged over the month, according to figures
from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hours worked by
production or nonsupervisory employees on nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.6
percent in January, while average hourly earnings were unchanged between
December and January, which resulted in a 0.6 percent rise in average weekly
pay. Real earnings estimates are compiled from the agency's monthly survey
of about 390,000 nonfarm business establishments. The payroll survey
represents about 80 percent of all private industry workers, the bureau said
(Daily Labor Report, page D21).
The Labor Department said yesterday that the average number of hours
Americans spent on the job grew 0.6 percent from December to January,
offsetting the price increases and leaving workers' real weekly earnings
unchanged.(The New York Times, page C1).
Data compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs in the first 8 weeks of 2001
show that the weighted average first-year wage increase in newly negotiated
contracts is 3.7 percent, compared with 3.5 percent in 2000. The
manufacturing industry weighted average increase also is 3.7 percent, while
nonmanufacturing (excluding construction) agreements show a weighted average
increase in 3.8 percent (Daily Labor Report, page D-25).
The Department of Commerce reports U.S. trade deficit in goods and services
ended the year on a positive note, narrowing 0.4 percent in December, but
the imbalance for 3000 widened to a record $369.7 billion. Although
economists have fretted about the unsustainability of the ever-rising trade
deficit, they said the narrowing gap as the year ended reflected the sharp
growth deceleration in the world's largest economy (Daily Labor Report, page
D-1; John M. Berry in The Washington Post, page E16).
The increase in the trade deficit came as imports from China surged, giving
the United States a larger trade deficit with China than with Japan for the
first time (The New York Times, page C1).
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