> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2001:
>
> RELEASED TODAY; A total of 5,915 fatal work injuries were recorded in
> 2000, a decline of about 2 percent for 1999, according to the Census of
> Fatal Occupational Injuries, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
> The decline occurred even though overall employment increased in 2000.
> The number of job-related deaths from highway incidents, the most frequent
> fatal work injury, declined for the first time since the fatality census
> was first conducted in 1992. Fatalities resulting from electrocutions,
> fires and explosions, and contact with objects or equipment also were down
> in 2000. Fatal job-related falls and homicides both increased.
>
> Brisk job growth, one of the South's biggest economic claims to fame
> throughout the 1990s, eased as the U.S. economic slowdown invaded the
> region. Hit by the tech downturn and the manufacturing slump, Atlanta's
> total job count is expected to grow by only 30,000 this year, or 1.4
> percent, the smallest gain since 1992. according to a First Union
> economist. Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, N.C., saw its unemployment rate
> balloon to 6.3 percent during June, from 2.3 percent a year earlier, the
> Bureau of Labor Statistics says. The increase was the largest among U.S.
> cities, fueled by a triple whammy from layoffs in furniture, textiles and
> fiber optics ("Work Week" feature in The Wall Street Journal, page 1).
>
> Sales at the nation's retailers were flat in July for the second month in
> a row, as consumers -- worried about their jobs -- shopped selectively.
> The Commerce Department's report showed that much of the lackluster
> performance came from a record drop in sales at gasoline stations,
> reflecting lower prices at the pump. Sales of automobile dealerships also
> fell. but that masked strength elsewhere including sales of sporting
> goods, health and personal care products, and clothes, which all posted
> healthy gains. Consumers also ate out more last month. Tuesday's report
> was a bit better than many analysts were predicting. They had forecast
> total retail sales would drop by 0.2 percent in July (Jeannine Aversa,
> Associated Press,
> http://www0.mercurycenter.com/breaking/headline2/019709.htm;
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8938-2001Aug14.html.
>
> Wall Street is suffering through its worst patch in a decade. Profits are
> plunging, jobs are vanishing, and bonuses are shriveling (for those who
> stay employed). Analysts who track the securities business stop short of
> predicting that plagues of locusts will ravage Lower Manhattan -- but only
> just. The New York State comptroller's office estimates that through the
> securities firms provide less than 5 percent of the jobs in the city, they
> pay almost 20 percent of the wages. Thousands of people who work on Wall
> Street -- perhaps as many as 30,000 -- are facing pink slips, and that
> doesn't include all the barbers, bartenders and bauble-sellers who depend,
> indirectly, on Wall Street. Its trade group, the Securities Industry
> Association, says that each job supports two in other fields, like law,
> consulting, or printing (The New York Times, page 1).
>
> Though Federal Reserve policymakers signaled in June that they would quit
> cutting interest rates long before any sign the economy had begun to
> rebound, economists think it now much likelier the Fed will cut another
> quarter-point next Thursday and keep cutting until consumers and
> businesses are confident a recovery is underway (George Hager, USA Today,
> page B2).
>
> The slowing economy slightly affected employers' recruitment of students
> for internships, co-ops and summer assignments during the 2000-2001
> academic year. So concludes a study of 177 large and small employers by
> the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a Bethlehem, Pa.,
> organization. Most of the surveyed employers (76 percent) offered
> internship programs while 55 percent offered co-op programs and 57 percent
> offered summer-hire programs. The internships and co-ops took place
> during the academic year. Generally, internships are unpaid and more
> beneficial to the student; co-ops are usually paid positions designed to
> help the company (The Wall Street Journal, page B9).
>
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