> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2001:
>
> Nonfarm business productivity was revised down to a growth rate of 2.1
> percent in the fourth quarter as revisions to output data showed
> production was slower than the government had originally estimated, the
> Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Second quarter output was revised
> down sharply to a decline of 0.5 percent from a previously reported
> increase of 0.1 percent. Hours worked in the second quarter were also
> revised down to a decline of 2.6 percent from the 2.4 percent decline that
> was reported in early August. BLS said the decline in output was the
> first since the first quarter of 1993, when it fell 1.3 percent, and the
> drop in hours was the largest since a decline of 4.8 percent in the first
> quarter of 1991 (Daily Labor Report, page D-1; The Washington Post, page
> E3; The Wall Street Journal, page A12).
>
> The productivity of American workers grew strongly in the second quarter
> but the increase was less impressive than originally thought, the Labor
> Department said today. A private firm, meanwhile, predicted that the
> steady drumbeat of company layoffs would keep up in coming months (The New
> York Times, page C2).
>
> U.S. companies in August announced a total of 140,019 workforce
> reductions, 32 percent fewer layoffs than the previous month, the
> outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. reports. However,
> the total number of layoffs for the first 8 months of the year, at
> 1,123,356, is 83 percent higher than the year-end total of 2000 (Daily
> Labor Report, page A-3).
>
> Data compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs in the first 36 weeks of
> 2001 showed that the weighted average first-year wage increase in newly
> bargained contracts in the nonmanufacturing sector (excluding
> construction) was 3.9 percent compared with 4 percent in 2000. The median
> increase in these contracts was 4 percent, compared with 3.5 percent last
> year. Manufacturing agreements provided a weighted average increase of
> 3.1 percent, compared with 3.3 percent in 2000, and a median of 3 percent,
> unchanged from the same period in 2000 (Daily Labor Report, page D-10).
>
> Fewer people applied for state unemployment benefits last week, but claims
> remained at a level suggesting the labor market has not rebounded from the
> economic downturn that started last year. The number of workers filing
> new applications for jobless benefits fell by a seasonally adjusted 3,000
> to 402,000 for the work week ending September 1, the Labor Department
> reported today. The claims figures have bounced up and down recently as
> automobile plants temporarily shut down to retool for new models and then
> later call workers back. Given that, economists tend to focus on another
> number as a barometer of the labor market's health -- the more stable
> 4-week moving average of jobless claims. The moving average, which
> smoothes out week-to-week fluctuations, increased last week by 3,500 to
> 398,000, the highest level since mid-July (Leigh Strope, Associated Press,
> http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2001-09-06-jobless.htm).
>
> Although companies continue to lay off employees because of a slowing
> economy, an increasing number of them are combining sick, vacation, and
> personal time in an effort to relieve stress and retain staff members.
> PTOs, or paid time off policies, are an emerging trend among both large
> and small corporations, particularly in the high-tech sector, according to
> The Survey Group, a regional compensation and benefits research firm based
> in Wakefield, Massachusetts (Boston Globe).
>
> DUE OUT TOMORROW: The Employment Situation: August 2001
>
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