BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2002: About 15 percent of the workforce worked at home during May 2001, as a part of their primary job responsibilities, a total of 19.8 million people, according to figures released March 1 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Two-thirds say they work at home at least once a week because it's simply the nature of the job or because they need to finish or catch up on work. Half of workers performing job duties from home were wage and salary workers who took work home from their job on an unpaid basis. Another 17 percent had previous/ arrangements with their employers to be paid for the work they did at home. The remaining 30 percent were self-employed (Daily Labor Report, page D-7).
Employee benefits made up more than one-third of the total cost of company payrolls n 2000, with health insurance as the highest single benefit cost, according to a nationwide study released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Employee benefits cost employers an additional 37.5 percent over wages in 2000, or an average of $16,617 per employer, according to the chamber's "2001 Employee Benefits Study". The chamber's study analyzed year 2000 benefit practices of surveyed employers. The 456 companies surveyed, which included both chamber members and nonmembers who voluntarily participated in the survey, collectively employed approximately 787,346 full-time equivalent workers. Benefits varied significantly among companies, according to the survey, with one in 10 paying more than 45.2 percent of its payroll for benefits and an equal number of companies paying less than 20.4 percent for benefits. The top 10 percent of companies had an average benefit cost of $21,774 per employee, while the lower 10 percent paid an average of $5,850 (Daily Labor Report, page A-2). The U.S. economy not only has begun to grow again after last year's slump, but it also is apparently doing so far more quickly than even the most optimistic forecasters were expecting just a few weeks ago, according to several economic reports released March 1. The strength of the latest figures, showing recent gains in manufacturing, consumer spending, and construction sent stocks soaring and surprised analysts -- who were already busy marking up their predictions for growth in the first 3 months of this year (John M. Berry, in The Washington Post, March 2, page 1). Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan says the recession is ending. So do most private economists. So how come it's so hard to find a job? Manpower, Inc., the big staffing company, reported last week that hiring is still tepid in the Washington area, despite signs that an economic recovery is afoot. the firm surveyed area companies about their hiring plans for the spring and 15 percent said they would recruit more workers during April, May, and June. Meanwhile, 14 expect to cut jobs in the same period (The rest either anticipated no changes or were not sure). On Wednesday the Labor Department is to release January employment data -- the number of jobs in each state in several categories, along with the unemployment rate and other data -- for each state and the District. A week later it is to release the same data for the Washington area which includes the District and suburban counties (The Washington Post, page E6). The corporate computer services market is now larger than the market for computer hardware and is expected to keep growing, according to the International Data Corp. A graph showing the amount of money spent on computer shows about $375 million in 2000, $400 million in 2001 and projected $425 million for 2002 (The New York Times, page C5).
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