[PEN-L:4269] BLS Daily Report

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BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9-10, 1999

RELEASED TUESDAY:  The revised fourth-quarter productivity increases in both
the business and nonfarm business sectors were the largest in six years.
The increases in business and nonfarm productivity were 4.8 percent and 4.6
percent, respectively.  For the year 1998, productivity increases in both
sectors were larger than those posted for 1997, but slightly less than the
increases that occurred in 1996. ...  Manufacturing productivity rose at a
5.2 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter.  On an annual basis,
manufacturing productivity rose 4.2 percent in 1998, more slowly than it had
in the previous year, when it grew 4.9 percent. ...  

RELEASED WEDNESDAY:  In November 1998, there were 1,278 mass layoff actions
by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits
during the month. ...  The number of layoff events and initial claimants for
unemployment insurance were higher in November 1998 than in November 1997.
Also, the total of layoff events from January through November 1998 and the
total number of initial claimants were somewhat higher than in the same
period of 1997. ...   

__Productivity in the nation's nonfarm business sector soared by an upwardly
revised annual rate of 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 1998, the
largest gain in 6 years, BLS reports.  Earlier, BLS had estimated that
productivity grew 3.7 percent in the final quarter of the year.  The robust
fourth quarter brought 1998's annual average productivity gain to 2.2
percent, larger than the increase in 1997, but slightly behind the 1996
advance. ...  (Daily Labor Report, March 10, page D-1).
__The productivity of U.S workers surged in the final quarter of 1998,
easing concerns that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates. ...  In
a separate report, the Commerce Department said U.S. businesses stocked
their shelves at the slowest pace in 8 months in January (Washington Post,
March 10, page E1). 
__Workers' productivity shot up.  The report eased concerns that the Fed
might raise interest rates. ...  (Reuters story in New York Times, March 10,
page C10).
__Productivity in nonfarm businesses in the fourth quarter grew even faster
than the government's initial impressive estimate, adding more evidence that
the nation's disappointing productivity trend finally may be turning around.
....  (Alejandro Bodipe-Memba in Wall Street Journal, March 10, page A4).
__There are "no obvious signs of emerging inflation pressures" in the U.S.
economy, partly because of improving productivity, Federal Reserve Chairman
Greenspan said in a speech Tuesday.  Against the backdrop of revised
fourth-quarter productivity numbers that showed the strongest gains in 6
years, bond investors interpreted Greenspan's remarks as a sign the central
bank would hold interest rates steady for now. ...  (Beth Belton and Sara
Nathan in USA Today, March 10, page 2B).

The producer price index correctly captures the changing cost of energy,
according to a study reported in the most recent Monthly Labor Review, which
compared the PPI with two other measures.  BLS economists Katherine A.
Klemmer and Joseph L. Kelley studied energy price changes in the PPI and
compared them with the agency's CPI and data published by the Energy
Information Association. ...  (Daniel J. Roy in Daily Labor Report, March 9,
page A-2).

"Economic Indicators", a feature of USA Today (March 10, page 4B), estimates
that producer prices for February, to be released March 12, will be down 0.1
percent, in comparison with the actual January figure of a 0.5 percent
increase.  The PPI  for February excluding food/energy is predicted to be up
0.1 percent, compared with an increase of 0.1 percent in January.  

The economy's spectacular performance in the past 8 years has largely
bypassed one group of Americans:  young black men looking for work, says The
Wall Street Journal (Glen Burkins,  March 9, page A2).  As the latest
employment report shows, nearly 32 percent of black male teenagers who want
to work remain unemployed, compared with 12.2 percent of white male teens.
These February numbers are only slightly better for young black job seekers
in their early 20s.  Harry Holzer, the Labor Department's chief economist,
called the unemployment figure for young black men "unacceptably high."
"This is the most disadvantaged group in the country," he said last week.
However, he said the picture has been worse.  During the recessions of the
1970s and 1980s, the unemployment rate for black youths looking for work was
close to 50 percent.  Some economists and government officials said they had
hoped young black males would have benefited more from the current recovery,
but, for a number of reasons, the boom has not automatically transferred to
some sectors of the black community.  Primary factors range from poor
education  and job skills to a reluctance of white employers to hire young
black applicants. ...  BLS data are used in an accompanying table showing
average unemployment rates by race and age.

Job cut announcements are running at a faster pace in the first 2 months of
1999 than they did in the same period 1 year ago, according to the February
Challenger, Gray & Christmas layoff report.  U.S. companies announced 61,870
job cuts in February, bringing the 2-month total to 141,537, a 21.8 percent
increase from the same period in 1998. ...  Increased foreign competition is
hurting the apparel industry, which led all industries in February with
10,896 job cuts.  This, in turn, has had an impact on retailers.  Apparel
and retail account for 31.2 percent of announced workforce reductions this
year. ...  (Daily Labor Report, March 9, page A-2).

Capital gains generated by a booming housing market have likely spurred
consumer spending and given a strong boost to the U.S. economy, Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said. ...  In addition to home sales, a wave
of refinancings induced by low mortgage rates has helped put more spending
money in consumers' pockets. ...  Departing from the prepared text of his
speech to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Fed chief said this effect
could be felt for some time. ...  He said that even unrealized gains --
money that homeowners assume they will receive in the future when they sell
-- could influence consumer spending. ...  Greenspan noted that mortgage
refinancings had fallen off this year as long-term mortgage rates crept up,
and he suggested that the market for refinancings might be nearly exhausted.
....  (Washington Post, March 9, page E11).

DUE OUT TOMORROW:  U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes -- February 1999


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