BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1997 __Prices of goods imported to the United States dropped 0.2 percent in July, BLS reports. The price of exports dipped 0.1 percent. Declines in both imported petroleum prices and nonpetroleum prices contributed to the July downturn. Petroleum prices fell 0.7 percent, and nonpetroleum costs were down 0.1 percent ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-5). __The Wall Street Journal, in its article on the Fed holding the line on short-term interest rates (page A2), includes that, excluding oil, import prices declined 0.1 percent, mainly because of the fall in computer prices. It then gives the over-the-year change in export prices, without noting that it has switched from June-to-July changes. __Both the Teamsters and United Parcel Service claimed their share of victories in settling their dispute after a 15-day strike. Some of the 185,000 striking workers have started to return to their jobs in some cities and were expected to be back in full force in a day or two. The Teamsters boasted of new full-time jobs, wage gains, and pension increases; the company hailed a five-year term and the end of a strike that it estimated cost more than $600 million ....(Daily Labor Report, page AA-1). __Many labor experts agree the Teamsters won some significant gains in the UPS strike -- especially the company's pledge to add 10,000 full-time jobs for current part-time workers. But these experts cautioned that the broader economic forces that have been pushing companies such as UPS to use part-time workers continue unabated. And unless organized labor can find ways to ease these competitive pressures, they say, any gains won in the UPS strike may be short-lived ....Charts using BLS data show that, as the clout of unions has been diminishing, the percentage of part-time workers has increased, and the number of work stoppages involving 1,000 or more employees has shrunk considerably since 1980 ....(Washington Post, page A1). __UPS says fears of bigger losses made it cut a deal, but the company warns that 15,000 workers may be laid off if its business does not bounce back ....(New York Times, page A1). __The UPS pact fails to shift the balance of power back toward U.S. workers, although it's important to labor after two long decades of waning influence ....UPS labor costs could rise by over $1 billion a year within three years due to its tentative pact. The accord calls for substantial pay increases and the creation of thousands of new full-time jobs. The delivery firm dropped a proposal to withdraw from union-run pension plans, and the Teamsters agreed to a five-year pact instead of three. UPS hopes to restart its network over the next few days ....(Wall Street Journal, pages A1 and A3). Construction of new homes and apartments held steady in July, with a sharp gain in the Northeast offsetting declines in other regions, the Commerce Department reports ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_____Despite low inventories of new homes and relatively cheap mortgage rates, construction of new homes remained unchanged ....(New York Times, page D6). __Fed officials voted to leave short-term interest rates alone for now, in a move seen as reflecting their satisfaction with inflation and economic growth ....(Washington Post, page D9)_____The Fed voted to leave interest rates unchanged, continuing a remarkable economic experiment in which the central bank has kept rates low despite shrinking unemployment and unusually strong economic growth ....(New York Times, page A1)_____Some analysts think the Fed could be forced to raise rates later this year, but many now believe that the central bank may stay on hold for a time ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2) Microchip manufacturers expect to create 40,000 new technicians' jobs in the next five years, but the industry has not been able to find enough qualified applicants, according to a consortium of 10 semiconductor manufacturers ....The semiconductor industry now employs about 250,000 people and has grown by 43,000 workers since 1992, according to figures from BLS ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-7). Nonprofit organizations are unlikely to be able to solve the problem of putting welfare recipients to work under new welfare reform mandates, according to a survey and study released by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank ....A full 85 percent of nonprofits responding said they would accept welfare recipients as workers ....But most of these nonprofit organizations could take only a few workers at a time ....(Daily Labor Report, Aug. 19, page A-9).
