[PEN-L:1443] BLS Daily Report

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BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1998

RELEASED TODAY:  In July, 213 of the 328 metropolitan areas had
unemployment rates below the U.S. average (4.7 percent, not seasonally
adjusted), while 111 areas had higher rates.  Of the 17 metropolitan
areas with jobless rates below 2 percent, 13 were in the Midwest.  Of
the 15 areas with rates above 10 percent, 7 were in California and 4
were along the Mexican border in other states. ...

The index of leading economic indicators increased 0.4 percent in July,
after declining for two straight months, according to the Conference
Board.  The decline in average initial claims for unemployment insurance
contributed the most to the modest increase. ... (Daily Labor Report,
page D-1; USA Today, page 1B).

The U.S. manufacturing sector slowed for the third consecutive month in
August, although the economy as a whole grew, the National Association
of Purchasing Management reports.  Despite settlement of the General
Motors strike, NAPM members responding to the survey said new orders are
not coming in as quickly as expected. ...  Manufacturing employment
continued to decline in August, but at a slower rate than in July.  The
employment index rose to 46.9 percent from 44.4 percent in July.  An
index greater than 46.9 percent, over time, is generally consistent with
an increase in manufacturing employment. ... (Daily Labor Report, page
A-2; New York Times, page C4).

Construction spending for the month of July was nearly unchanged from
its June level, the Commerce Department reports. ... (Daily Labor
Report, page A-3). 

The stock market may be having a coughing spell, but the economy still
appears to be in good health.  Three economic reports -- the index of
leading economic indicators, construction spending, and the NAPM index
-- show an economy that is slower than it was a year ago, but nowhere
near a recession. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2).

Rising health care costs over the past 20 years have hit employers
harder than employees, the Employee Benefit Research Institute says.
Despite rising health costs in the last two decades and despite the
increased use of cost sharing by employers, individuals are paying a
smaller percentage of total health care costs today than in the past. In
recent years, employers have controlled cost increases by moving workers
into managed care health plans, expanding utilization review for active
workers, increasing premium cost-sharing with workers, and scaling back
retiree health care plans. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-10).

The U.S. economy remains so solid that the stock market's decline from
its July peak will merely slow growth of the nation's economic output
and will not come close to causing a recession, a number of public and
private economists said. ...  One reason the impact of falling stock
prices is likely to be muted is that the global financial turmoil
already has reduced U.S. interest rates - those set by market forces
rather than central bank policy - and helped lower inflation. ...  With
the number of payroll jobs increasing month by month, and wages rising
considerably faster than prices, American households' base of real
disposable income is steadily expanding.  That base is the primary
source of money supporting consumer spending, though it has been
augmented in recent years by the spectacular increase in stock prices,
which has added to household wealth and enabled consumers to spend more
than their current regular incomes would justify. ... (John M Berry in
Washington Post, page A1).

The gap between male and female earnings in many marriages is relatively
small, observes Anne E. Winkler of the University of Missouri in a
recent study.  In a growing number of cases, in fact, wives now bring
home more of the bacon then their husbands.  It's hardly news, of
course, that most married women work.  Since 1966, the percentage of
wives in the labor force has risen from 35 percent to 62 percent - and
75 percent if only those under 65 are counted.  Census data indicate
that duel income couples last year hit 30.5 million, far outpacing the
11.4 million marriages in which only the husband worked.  Meanwhile, the
gap between male and female wages has been shrinking - because of
falling real earnings among poorly educated men and generally rising
earnings among women.  Indeed, adjusting for the differences in women's
education, experience, and occupations, economists Francine Blau and
Lawrence M. Kahn of Cornell University have estimated that hourly wages
of female full-time workers came to 88 percent of male wages by the end
of the 1980s. ...  By early 1993, the rising share of dual income
couples in which wives earn more than their husbands was 25.2 percent.
Moreover, close to 10 percent of women in this group were earning at
least 50 percent more in hourly wages than their spouses, and 20 percent
had greater annual earnings. ... (Business Week, Sept. 7, page 22).

Nonfarm payrolls likely soared by 350,000 in August, says the forecast
in Business Week (Sept 7, page 119).  About 140,000 of the expected gain
reflects workers at GM and its suppliers heading back to work after the
strike.  The strike held job growth in July to just a 66,000 increase.
The unemployment rate is expected to have stayed at 4.5 percent in
August. 

DUE OUT TOMORROW:  Productivity and Costs -- Second Quarter 1998
(Revised)

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