BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1999
RELEASED TODAY: In August, 212 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment
rates below the U.S. average (4.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while
105 areas had higher rates. Twenty-three metropolitan areas reported rates
below 2.0 percent, with 14 of these located in the Midwest and 6 in New
England. Of the five areas with jobless rates over 10.0 percent, three were
in the West and two were in the South. ...
The Consumer Confidence Index dipped nearly two percentage points to 134.2
in September, marking its third consecutive monthly decline, the Conference
Board reports. The monthly reading of the economic views of 5,000 U.S.
households fell 1.8 percentage points in September. In August, the revised
index declined to 136 percent of its 1985 base from 136.2 in July. The poll
is conducted for the Conference Board by NFO Research Inc. in Greenwich,
Conn. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-1)_____Economists noted that the
Consumer Confidence Index is still close to its June peak of 139, which was
the highest reading in more than 30 years. ... (Washington Post, page E3).
When disabled individuals begin working, their dependence on government
entitlements falls dramatically and their contributions to the tax base
increase, according to "The 1999 Survey on Government Benefits for Workers
with Disabilities in JWOD Food Service Programs," released by NISH, formerly
the National Industries for the Severely Handicapped. The report is based
on a survey by Matthew Greenwald and Associates of some 317 participants in
the Javits-Wagner O'Day (JWOD) Program. The JWOD program helps place
severely disabled individuals in federal government jobs in such areas as
administrative support, central facility management, mailroom operations,
and food service. ... Whereas 35 percent of the survey's respondents
received Medicaid prior to their enrollment in the JWOD program, the
percentage who continued to receive that benefit while participating in the
program fell to 25 percent. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-6).
The Nation's fastest-growing minority will be consigned to low-skill,
low-wage jobs with no change of advancement unless educators and
policymakers expand education and training opportunities for these workers,
according to a report by the Educational Testing Service and the Hispanic
Association of Colleges and Universities. A disproportionate number of U.S.
Hispanics are working in low-wage jobs, according to the report's author
Anthony Carnevale, ETS vice president for public leadership and chair of the
Commission for Employment Policy during President Clinton's first term. ...
Citing figures from the Census Bureau's current population survey, the
report found that, in 1997, 16 percent of Hispanic workers held "elite"
managerial and professional jobs, compared with 38 percent of white,
non-Hispanic workers. The report defines "elite" jobs as typically
requiring a bachelor's degree and having an average salary of $59,000 for
men and $34,000 for women. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-8).
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