> RELEASED TODAY: The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods decreased 0.6 > percent in November, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics > reports. This decline followed a 1.6 percent drop in October and a > 0.4-percent gain in September. November prices for finished goods other > than foods and energy rose 0.2 percent, after posting a 0.5-percent > decrease in October. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received > by intermediate goods manufacturers fell 0.5 percent, following a > 1.5-percent decline in the previous month. The crude goods index advanced > 7.3 percent in November, after dropping 9.1 percent a month earlier. > > Prices of imported goods fell more than expected in November, the > government reports, signaling that inflation does not yet pose a threat to > economic recovery. The import price index dropped 1.6 percent after a > record 2.4 percent decline in October, the Labor Department said. > Excluding petroleum, prices paid for finished goods and raw materials from > abroad fell 0.6 percent, the same as in October. "Inflation is down and > out for the foreseeable future," said Joshua Shapiro, the chief economist > at Maria Fiorini Ramirez, Inc., in New York. "That reflects excess > capacity around the world." The import prices index is the first of three > measures of inflation for November. The Labor Department reported on > producer prices today and will report on consumer prices on Friday (The > New York Times, page C2). > > The Pacific Northwest goes from high-tech to high jobless, says The New > York Times (page A20). On a percentage basis, Oregon has lost more jobs > than any other state in the past year, according to the Bureau of Labor > Statistics, and its unemployment rate, at 6.5 percent, is now the second > highest in the nation -- surpassed only by its next door neighbor, > Washington State, at 6.6 percent. The number of Oregonians receiving food > stamps jumped 32 percent in September, compared with the same month a year > ago, the biggest year-to-year increase since 1974. When a wave of layoffs > hit the Northwest's high-tech industry, which has replaced the traditional > resource industries, like logging and fishing, as an economic linchpin, > the ripple effects were severe. Portland's "Silicon forest" area has > nearly one of every 10 semiconductor jobs in the nation. The article is > illustrated with a graph showing the unemployment rates for Washington and > Oregon. Source of the data is given as BLS. > > The weighted average first-year wage increase in newly negotiated > contracts in 2001 was 4.3 percent, compared with 3.8 percent in 2000, > according to data compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs in the first > 50 weeks of 2001 for all settlements. The median first-year wage increase > for these settlements was 3.5 percent, the same as that negotiated in > 2000. The manufacturing industry weighted average increase was 3.1 > percent, compared with 3.2 percent in 2000, while nonmanufacturing > contracts, excluding construction agreements, showed a weighted average > gain of 4.3 percent, compared with 4 percent in 2000 (Daily Labor Report, > page D-1, D-2). > > Retail sales plunged a record 3.7 percent in November, as consumers, > buffeted by huge job losses, terrorist attacks and a recession, got the > holiday sales season off to a dismal start. The Commerce Department says > the record drop in retail sales followed a 6.4 percent upward surge in > October, also a record. That big increase was caused by a huge jump in > auto sales as Americans responded eagerly to the free financing offers > that dealers used to get shoppers back into showrooms following the > September 11 terrorist attacks. However, in more positive news Thursday, > the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans filing > first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 86,000 last week. It > was the biggest decline in weekly jobless claims in 9 years and provided > reason to hope that the huge wave of layoffs that occurred following the > terrorist attacks may be abating. The big decline left total new claims > at 394,000 last week. The country's first recession in a decade is > keeping a lid on inflation. A third report showed that wholesale prices > fell for a second consecutive month, dropping 0.6 percent in November > after a bigger 1.6 percent plunge in October. The November decline was > led by another big drop in energy prices, which offset rising prices for > autos and tobacco. Outside of food and energy, the "core" rate of > wholesale inflation was up 0.2 percent in November after having dropped > 0.5 percent in October. The concern is that the near 800,000 job layoffs > that have occurred in the past 2 months will trigger sharp cuts in > spending and make the current downturn deeper and more severe than the > mild recession most economists are now forecasting (Martin Crutsinger, > Associated Press, > http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-economy.story?coll=chi%2Dbusine > ss%2Dhed). > > Predicting that the current economic recession will end with the fourth > quarter, the National Association of Manufacturers says it expects a "weak > and meandering" recovery to begin in the first half of 2002 (Daily Labor > Report, page A-3). > > Except for their size, Oakland, Calif. and Wichita, Kan., don't have a lot > in common. But when it comes to equal pay for men and women, they're > really poles apart. Last year, women in Wichita averaged only about half > of what men earned. In Oakland, they earned a little more: $26,203 vs. > $25,928. Pay equity for women varies greatly depending on where they > live. While researchers have long made such comparisons among states, the > census estimates reveal for the first time tantalizing clues about > differences among cities. The economic structure of a city makes a > difference. Salary rates in governmental institutions tend to be geared > toward equality among the genders, which may explain while St. Paul, a > state capital, and Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, score well. > Size also helps. Besides Houston, America's fourth largest city, No. 2 > Los Angeles, and No. 3 Chicago also ranked among the 10 cities with the > smallest pay differential. Meanwhile, smaller cities ranked at the bottom > of the scale. Cities with heavy concentrations of manufacturing tend to > rank low in pay parity, probably because the sector pays relatively well > and remains dominated by men, says a spokesman of the Institute for > Women's Policy Research (Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor, > http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/192492p-1865457c.html). > > DUE OUT TOMORROW: Consumer Price Index, November 2001; and Real Earnings, > November 2001 >
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