> BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2001:
>
> Nonfarm business sector productivity growth was revised downward to a 2.2
> percent annual rate of increase for the fourth quarter of 2000 as unit
> labor costs rose to a 4.3 percent rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
> reports. Productivity throughout the entire business sector was revised
> down 0.1 percentage point to 4.2 percent. A Merrill Lynch economist said
> the productivity figures were revised lower to correspond with the
> downward revision of the gross domestic product to 1.1 percent (Daily
> Labor Report, page D-1).
>
> Productivity grew at a revised 2.2 percent during the fourth quarter,
> closing out the best year for worker efficiency in almost 2 decades, the
> government said today. The figure was less than the 2.4 percent pace
> previously estimated for the final 3 months of last year, the Labor
> Department said. Still, productivity -- the measure of how much an
> employee produces for every hour worked -- was stronger than the 2 percent
> pace expected by analysts. A separate report from the Commerce Department
> showed factory orders fell 3.8 percent in January, as bookings declined
> for aircraft. Companies are cutting employee hours to limit the damage
> the slowing economy is having on their bottom lines (Bloomberg News, The
> New York Times, page C6).
>
> Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has announced plans to create a new
> agency within the Labor Department to be known as the Office of the 21st
> Century Workforce. The new office's first responsibility will be to hold
> a Summit on the 21st Century Workforce this spring, calling on leaders
> from business, labor and government "to address the structural changes
> that are affecting our workforce and our economy," Chao told Labor
> Department employees following a formal swearing-in ceremony (Daily Labor
> Report, page A-9)..
>
> Orders to U.S. factories fell 3.8 percent in January to their lowest level
> in 14 months, fresh evidence that manufacturers continue to struggle
> during the economic slowdown. But another report showed that growth in
> American productivity--or output per hour of labor-- while slower, was
> still solid in the fourth quarter despite the sharp economic slowdown.
> The Commerce Department reported that the January decline in factory
> orders, which followed a 0.6 percent increase in December, was led by a
> sharp drop in demand for airplanes, cars and transportation equipment.
> Separately, the Labor Department reported that productivity growth slowed
> in the fourth quarter to a 2.2 percent rate, down from a 3 percent rate in
> the previous quarter, reflecting the weakened state of the economy (The
> Washington Post, page E2).
>
> Orders for big-ticket manufactured items fell in January as demand for
> aerospace goods slumped. The lackluster January showing had been
> expected, given the plunge in orders for durable goods reported earlier
> (The Wall Street Journal, page A2).
>
> A recent study by economists Timothy M. Smeeding, Lee Rainwater and Gary
> Burtless makes clear that U.S. poverty is far higher than the average in
> other industrial nations. Using 40 percent of each nation's median
> disposable income as its poverty line, the analysis found that the U.S.
> was the only one among 13 wealthy nations with a double-digit poverty
> rate. Moreover, its rate (10.7 percent in 1997) was more than twice the
> average for the group. The authors make clear that the working poor have
> lost ground in recent decades. Any benefits of wage and income inequality
> "have been captured much further up the income scale" (Business Week,
> March 12, page 32).
>
> Nonfarm payrolls likely added 73,000 new jobs in February, after
> increasing by 268,000 jobs in January, based on the S&P MMS survey.
> Manufacturing payrolls, however, are expected to fall by 20,000 jobs after
> a cut of 65,000 workers in January. The unemployment rate is expected to
> hold at 4.2 percent (Business Week, March 12, page 116).
>
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