[PEN-L:264] BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D]

This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.

------ =_NextPart_000_01BDB676.5C0019F0
        charset="iso-8859-1"

BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1998

RELEASED TODAY: BLS reported today on labor productivity changes in =
1996
for selected industries in the U.S. economy and announced a major
expansion in the information available from this program.  With this
release, BLS is publishing data on labor productivity for 499 =
industries
- a substantial increase from the 182 industries previously published.
The series for the industries newly introduced begin in 1987 and
generally run through 1996.  Over the 1987-96 period, labor =
productivity
- defined as output per hour - increased in 84 percent of the
industries, as measured at the 3-digit level of the SIC code.  Output,
which is the production of goods and services, rose in 80 percent of =
the
industries at the 3-digit level.  In contrast, hours of labor increased
in only 51 percent of the industries.... =20

The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 1,276 mass
layoff actions by U.S. firms in the first quarter of 1998, involving
194,834 workers.  BLS says the numbers declined from the fourth quarter
of 1997, when there were 1,677 mass layoff actions involving 306,714
workers....  (Daily Labor Report, July 22, page D-5).

The House Appropriations Committee approves an $18.3 million increase =
in
funding for BLS to improve the accuracy of the CPI and to initiate a =
new
data series that would survey businesses on job openings and labor
shortages.  The House committee votes to approve the entire $398.9
million budget the administration requested for the agency for fiscal
year 1999.  About half of the increase would be used to improve the CPI
to make the price measure more accurately reflect cost of living
changes, says Kate Newman, head of BLS's financial planning and
management division.  The extra funding would allow the agency to speed
up the process of updating the market basket of goods and services
sampled to determine price changes, the committee says....  The
committee approved a budget request of $3.3 million to develop national
data on job openings and labor turnover.  "I thought it was a big hole
in our economic statistics," BLS Commissioner Katharine Abraham told
BNA, explaining why she sought to develop the new data series....
(Daily Labor Report, July 22, page A-5).

Less than one-third of adults with disabilities are employed, a figure
that has not improved over the past decade, according to a survey
released by the National Organization on Disability.  The survey,
conducted by Louis Harris & Associates, found that 29 percent of
disabled persons are employed full or part time, compared with 79
percent of nondisabled Americans aged 18 through 64.  In 1986, 33
percent of the disabled were employed....  (Washington Post, page A20).

"The (Asian) crisis=85has shown no evidence of stabilization at this
point," Alan Greenspan said in his second day of congressional =
testimony
on the state of the economy.  "We do not know how far it's going to
carry or what its spillover will be"....  (Wall Street Journal, page
A2)_____Greenspan warned investors not to assume that the good times on
Wall Street would last forever.  But he could not predict when the
exuberance would end and a correction start.  His comments helped send
stock market gauges lower....  (New York Times, page D6).


------ =_NextPart_000_01BDB676.5C0019F0
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------ =_NextPart_000_01BDB676.5C0019F0--