> BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2001:
>
> RELEASED TODAY: In the first quarter of 2001, there were 1,664 mass
> layoff actions by employers that resulted in the separation of 305,227
> workers from their jobs for more than 30 days, according to preliminary
> figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both the total number
> of layoff events and the number of separations were the highest for any
> first quarter on record since the program began in the second quarter of
> 1995. Layoffs due to internal company restructuring accounted for 24
> percent of events and resulted in 100,943 separations, the highest first
> quarter on record. On the other hand, the completion of seasonal work
> accounted for 24 percent of all events and resulted in 69,694 separations,
> the lowest first-quarter incidence on record. Permanent closure of
> worksites occurred in 16 percent of all events and affected 78,838
> workers, up from 44,472 workers in the first quarter of 2000, and were
> concentrated in general merchandise stores. Less than half of the
> employers indicated they anticipated some type of recall.
>
> A turnaround in gasoline prices resulted in a 0.3 percent seasonally
> adjusted rise in consumer prices during April, according to figures
> released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the most part, the
> consumer price index report reassured financial markets that inflation
> remains subdued. "Our forecast is not concerned with inflation in the
> near term. But over the longer term, there could be a building up of
> inflation pressures next year," says the chief economist of Banc of
> America Capital Management, Inc., in St. Louis. So called "core
> inflation" -- the all items CPI-U excluding the volatile energy and food
> categories -- rose 0.2 percent in April, and was up 2.6 percent over the
> year. The all items CPI-U was up 3.3 percent over the year ended in
> April. Higher energy prices will be adding to housing costs this summer
> in California, analysts pointed out, as rate hikes were approved that will
> boost residential electricity costs in much of that state. BLS economist
> Patrick Jackman told BNA that the overall weight of California is about 12
> percent of the national consumer price index. Looking at other categories
> of price changes tracked by the CPI, Jackman said recent shifts in apparel
> discounts and sale patterns have affected the monthly price estimates.
> Relatively early introduction of women's spring clothing boosted prices in
> February and March, but detracted from price increases typically expected
> in April, he said (Daily Labor Report, page D-1).
>
> Consumer prices rose 0.3 percent last month, as gasoline prices at the
> pump jumped 5 percent while apparel costs declined, the Labor Department
> reported yesterday (John M. Berry, in The Washington Post, page E3).
>
> Consumer prices rose less than expected last month, and home construction
> in April rose for the first time in 3 months, government reports showed
> (Bloomberg News, The New York Times, page C4; The Wall Street Journal,
> page A10).
>
> The inflation-adjusted weekly earnings of most U.S. workers employed in
> the nonfarm business sector edged down 0.1 percent in April, as hours
> worked were flat, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Daily Labor
> Report, page D-14).
>
> New claims for state unemployment insurance dropped last week to the
> lowest level since March, the second straight week of declines, as
> economists reported a rise in Americans' confidence about the economy.
> The Labor Department reports that initial applications for jobless
> benefits fell by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 380,000 for the work week
> ending May 12. The last time initial claims were this low was March 24,
> when claims were at 365,000 (Leigh Strope, Associated Press,
> http://www.nondotimes.com/business/story/10241p-234526c.html; Reuters,
> http://www.latimes.com/wires/20010517/tCB00a1992.html).
>
> An important gauge of future economic activity rose 0.1 percent in April,
> gaining after two consecutive monthly declines and suggesting that the
> U.S. economy is starting to recover. The Conference Board said its Index
> of Leading Economic Indicators rose to 108.7 last month after slipping a
> revised 0.2 percent in March and 0.2 percent in February. The improvement
> reflects the positive effect of the Federal Reserve's recent interest rate
> cuts (Lisi de Bourbon, AP Business Writer,
> http://www.nypost.com/apstories/business/V6943.htm).
>
> Data compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs in the first 20 weeks of
> 2001 for all settlements showed that the weighted average first-year wage
> increase in newly negotiated contracts is 4.9 percent. The manufacturing
> industry weighted average increase is 3.4 percent, while nonmanufacturing
> (excluding construction) agreements show a weighted average gain of 4.4
> percent (Daily Labor Report, page D-22).
>
> More than one in four (26.8 percent) American workers earned poverty-level
> wages in 1999, the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C. think
> tank reports. That's less than $8.19 an hour -- or roughly $17,000 a
> year. "Wages of low-skilled workers since 1995 have gone up but have not
> returned to their late 1970s' level," says economist Gary Burtless, a
> senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C. research
> organization. "You might argue that the government has recognized that
> employers are providing worse wages and worse benefits to unskilled
> workers. But if the employees happen to have children, it provides them a
> lot of extra benefits to top off their wages,"he said. Burtless pointed
> to the 1986 liberalization of the federal earned income tax credit that is
> putting $30 billion annually into the pockets of the working poor, and to
> the liberalization of Medicaid to cover uninsured employees' children.
> But "The biggest favor the private sector could do would be to invest a
> lot more in training and upgrading the skills of the low-wage work force,"
> Burtless said
> (http://www.latimes.com/business/work/20010512/tCB00a9656.html).
>
> The chief economic advisor to President Bush, Glenn Hubbard, chair of the
> President's Council of Economic Advisers, says that economic growth in the
> United States will remain flat during the second and third quarters of
> 2001, but should pick up by year's end. "The focus is on the end of the
> year for seeing some impact from policy changes..".he said during the May
> 16-17 annual meeting of the 30-member Organization for Economic
> Cooperation and Development, a research organization and negotiating forum
> for the world's industrialized democracies. The meeting is in Paris
> (Daily Labor Report, page A-9).
>
> Nearly half of employees feel overworked, over-whelmed by the amount of
> work they have to do, or that they have no time to reflect on the work
> they are doing, according to a study by the Families and Work Institute.
> The Institute conducted telephone interviews with a representative sample
> of 1,003 adults working for an employer, to prepare the study "Feeling
> Overworked, When Work Becomes Too Much" (Daily Labor Report, page A-7).
>
> DUE OUT TOMORROW: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment: April
> 2001
>
>
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