RELEASED TODAY: Regional and state unemployment rates were generally stable in March, but were higher than a year earlier. All four regions reported little or no change form February, and 43 states recorded shifts of 0.3 percentage point or less, the Bureau of Labor statistics reported today. The national jobless rate was little changed at 5.7 percent. Nonfarm employment decreased in 25 states and the District of Columbia.
About 29 million full-time wage and salary workers had flexible work schedules in May 2001, a 1.2 percentage point increase from May 1997, the last time the data were collected, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. BLS said the proportion of workers using flexible schedules increased to 28.8 percent in 2001, nearly double the proportion of 10 years earlier (Daily Labor Report, page D-5). The all-settlements average first-year wage increase in agreements reported in the first quarter of 2002 was 4.4 percent, compared with 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2001, according to data compiled by BNA. The second-and third-year average increases in agreements reported in the first quarter were 3.7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, compared with second-and third-year increases of 3.5 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, reported in the first quarter of 2001 (Daily Labor Report, page D-13). New claims for unemployment insurance benefits filed during the week ending April 13 totaled 445,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 444,000, according to the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration (Daily Labor Report, page D-2). Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao defended her plan for reducing repetitive-stress injuries in the workplace with voluntary guidelines for employers, saying the program would produce results faster than government regulations....In a prepared statement, AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney called the Chao proposal "an insult" because a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report found that almost 600,000 workers last year suffered injuries that required them to take at lease one day off work. "Work is increasingly a dangerous place to be," Sweeney said (The Washington Post, pages E1 and E5). Senate Democrats were sharply critical of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao's ergonomics plan at a Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee hearing April 18, during which Chao announced that the department will develop "effective, workable guidelines" for nursing homes. The announced ergonomics plan includes a "four-pronged" approach to reducing workplace musculoskeletal disorders: industry-specific and task-specific guidelines, strong and effective enforcement, extensive outreach and assistance, and research. Sen. Paul Wellstone D-Minn.) said that OSHA has no definition for musculoskeletal disorders for record keeping. OSHA Administrator Henshaw told reporters outside the hearing that OSHA will use the definition for MSDs that is used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics "for now." BLS defines a musculoskeletal disorder as an injury or disorder of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, and spinal discs. MSDs do not include disorders caused by slips, trips, falls, motor vehicle accidents, or similar accidents (Daily Labor Report, page AA-1).
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