>BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1997 > >RELEASED TODAY: Sixty-five percent of 1996 high school graduates were >attending colleges or universities by the fall. This rate was an all-time >high. From 1992 to 1995, the enrollment rate was about 62 percent ....Nearly >two-thirds of the 1996 high school graduates who were freshmen in college >were enrolled in four-year institutions. About two-fifths of them were >combining school with some labor force activity. In contrast, a much higher >proportion (about three-fifths) of the youth enrolled in two-year colleges >were in the labor force. The labor force participation rate was 78.1 percent >among the high school graduates who did not enroll in college in the fall of >1996 .... > >After adjustment for inflation, the weekly median earnings of the nation's >full-time wage and salary workers climbs 0.4 percent during the second >quarter compared with a year earlier, according to BLS ....(Daily Labor >Report, page D-1). > >New GDP numbers may well solve some major riddles ....The Commerce Department >will release revised numbers next week that may show the economy has been >forging ahead even faster than thought, adding almost a full percentage point >to growth for the past two years ....On the one hand, faster growth would >help solve some maddening economic puzzles. The biggest one: Why inflation >has stayed so tame despite extremely low unemployment levels. But for >practical reasons, there's little reason to get excited. Just because the >economy has been growing faster doesn't mean it's in any more danger of >fueling inflation ....Probably most important, it would show that >productivity hasn't been as sorry as it has appeared during the past few >years ....If productivity is revised upward, then unit labor costs would be >reduced. Probably, labor costs would be more consistent with inflation >....(Wall Street Journal, page A2). > >New IRS statistics break down how much income individual taxpayers had to >report for 1994 in order to rank in various income groups in the IRS's >Statistics of Income Bulletin ....(Wall Street Journal, "Tax Report," page >A1). > >Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, calling the U.S. economic >performance "exceptional and better than most anticipated," said that growth >has "moderated" for now, but cautioned that at some point the central bank >will have to raise interest rates to keep inflation in check ....(Daily Labor >Report, page A-12)_____Greenspan expects a strong economy through 1998. His >testimony to House panel fuels stock and bond markets' surge ....Greenspan >cited several factors that may have contributed to allowing the nation to >have a low 5 percent jobless rate without triggering large enough wage gains >to add to inflation. On his long list were technological improvements, >deregulation of a number of industries, a surge in business investment that >has boosted production capacity and productivity, a heightened sense of job >insecurity among workers, a strong dollar that has lowered the cost of >imported goods and services, changes that have reduced health care costs, and >"the reduced market power of labor unions." "Many of the forces are limited >or temporary, and their effects can be expected to diminish, at which time >cost and price pressures would tend to re-emerge," he warned. But some of >the changes, particularly technological developments, may have a more >permanent impact ....The true constraint on the economy, he told the >committee, is that the nation does not have enough people who don't have jobs >to allow employment to continue to rise as rapidly as it has since the end of >the 1990-91 recession ...."The unemployment rate has a downside limit if for >no other reason than unemployment, in part, reflects voluntary periods of job >search and other frictional unemployment," he said ....(Washington Post, page >A1)_____Greenspan suggested that the central bank was inclined to leave >interest rates steady for the time being, but he issued a gentle warning that >the current combination of steady growth, low unemployment, and nonexistent >inflation would not continue indefinitely ....His generally upbeat assessment >of the economy dispersed lingering anxieties among investors that the Fed >would raise rates next month, and the stock market soared in response >....(New York Times, page A1)_____Greenspan gave no hint that an increase in >interest rates is imminent, buoying the financial markets. He hailed the >current state of the economy as "exceptional," said the U.S. has "as close to >stable prices as I've seen since the 1960s," and welcomed the recent slowing >of economic growth ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2). > >Growing numbers of employers are using managed health care to cut costs and >keep employees healthy and productive, according to the management consulting >firm Hewitt Associates. Of 1,050 employers surveyed, 89 percent had some >sort of managed health initiative in place, up from 62 percent in 1992 >....(Daily Labor Report, page A-4). >
