BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2002: At least 125,000 American workers lost their jobs in mass layoffs that lasted 30 days or more because of the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. "It's pretty substantial," said Lewis Siegel, a senior economist with BLS and the manager of the agency's statistical program on mass layoffs, which asked employers participating in its regular layoff reports whether the attacks contributed to large-scale job losses. Employers in 33 states cited the attacks in 430 separate layoffs involving more than 50 workers each, the BLS said. The majority of the layoffs took place within weeks of September 11, with job losses tapering off since then. Transportation and hotel workers were most effected, the agency said. Siegel said that the terrorism impact has declined in recent weeks as the economy rebounded. About a third of the employers say they intended to rehire workers as conditions improve. Airline industry observers said it is already happening (The Washington Post, page E2; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38326-2002Mar4.html). The Wall Street Journal's "Work Week" feature (page A1) carries this item: "Happy New Year: Big employers laid of 263,800 workers in January, compared with 200,300 workers a year earlier, says the Labor Department, which tracks layoffs of 50 or more people." Layoff announcements at U.S. firms fell 40 percent in February from January, but the number of job cuts was still too high to signal a rebound in the job market, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Tuesday. The outplacement firm said job cuts announced in February totaled 128,115, down from 212,704 layoff announcements in January. But it said any number over 100,000 indicates employers "are still focused on contraction" (Reuters, http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2002-03-05-layoffs.htm).
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that 52 percent of the 19.8 million Americans who say they work at home at least once a week aren't being paid for it, says The Wall Street Journal feature "Work Week" (page A1). Of those, about 9 million say work at home is either necessary for catch-up or "the nature of the job". The study, taken from surveys of 50,000 households in May 2001, found managerial, professional and sales workers made up the bulk of workers taking it home. Average job tenure fell to 7 years in 2001 from 8 years in 2000 and 9 in 1999, says a survey of about 2,900 of its laid-off clients by outplacement concern Drake Beam Morin (The Wall Street Journal, "Work Week" feature, page A1). A key gauge of activity in the massive U.S. services sector recovered in February, after an unexpected contraction in the previous month, according to a report released Tuesday. The Institute for Supply Management, an industry trade group, said its monthly non-manufacturing index rose sharply to 58.7 percent in February, its highest level since November 2000, from the previous month's unexpected fall to 49.6 percent. February's reading, which far exceeded market expectations, was well above the 50 percent level, indicating expansion in the sector which includes everything from transportation to legal and financial services. The market expected a rise in the index to 51.4 percent (Reuters, http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2002-03-05-service.htm). While many large companies have cut back on employee training as a result of the sagging economy, smaller firms continue to make the investment, according to a survey of workplace trends by American Society for Training and Development. It found that small and medium size firms expected to increase spending on employee training from 2000 to 2001. But many large companies with 2,000 or more employees that were hit hard by the economic downturn planned to trim their training budgets, at least through 2002. The survey report is based on the responses of 376 of 1,100 companies that responded to the ASTD questionnaire. The survey was conducted in two parts throughout 2001 (Daily Labor Report, page A-1). DUE OUT TOMORROW: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment: January 2002
<<application/ms-tnef>>
