> RELEASED TODAY: In March, 224 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment
> rates below the U.S. average (4.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while
> 101 areas registered higher rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
> U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nine metropolitan areas had
> rates below below 2.0 percent, two each in Connecticut and Virginia.
> Among the 10 areas with jobless rates over 10.0 percent, 7 were in
> California, and 2 were along the Mexican border in other states.
>
> The nation's manufacturing sector remained in a slump during April,
> although an easing of price pressures was reassuring, according to the
> latest survey figures released May 1 by the National Association of
> Purchasing Management (NAPM). The monthly manufacturing survey showed the
> NAPM purchasing managers index edged up 0.1 percentage point to 43.2
> percent in April, a reading that indicates no expansion in the sector for
> the ninth straight month. A reading of 50 percent or higher shows
> manufacturing growth....The survey also showed NAPM members in
> manufacturing expect total factory employment to fall by 1.3 percent this
> year. Nearly half of those surveyed in the sector expect virtually no
> payroll growth this year. Employment in nonmanufacturing industries is
> projected to decline by 0.5 percent over the remainder of this year (Daily
> Report, page A-6).
>
> A manufacturing index edged higher in April, a report showed today, but
> the gain was less than expected and signaled that factories are having
> trouble pulling out of a slump. "Manufacturing is the economy's weakest
> spot and still is struggling significantly," said Mark M. Zandi, chief
> economist at the research firm Economy.com in West Chester, Pa. The
> National Association of Purchasing Management's factory index was 43.2
> last month, up from 43.1 in March. Analysts had expected the index to rise
> to 44 in April (New York Times, page C2, and The Wall Street Journal, page
> A2).
>
> Auto sales fell in April, providing the first important indicator of the
> economy's condition early in the second quater and a sign that weakening
> consumer confidence is beginning to affect spending on high-price
> products. Sales in April were a little higher than what the auto
> industry considers to be the long-term demand for new automobiles but
> below the annual rate of 17.2 million cars and light trucks in the first
> quarter (New York Times, page C1).
>
> Unemployment increased in two-thirds of U.S. regions and the nation as a
> whole in the first quater, compared with the fourth quarter of last year.
> The sluggishness that first hit consumer goods manufacturers is rolling
> across the country, with makers of high-tech products set to cut back
> especially in the West. Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi says
> Pacific states are about to suffer a "tsunami" of unemployment that will
> jack up that region's already high jobless rate of 4.7%. High-tech
> layoffs also are likely to affect Mid-Atlantic and New England states (The
> Wall Street Journal, page B11).
>
> DUE OUT TOMORROW: Multifactor Productivity Trends , 1999
>
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