[PEN-L:432] BLS Daily Report

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BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1998

RELEASED TODAY: The Employment Cost Index (ECI), not seasonally
adjusted, for June 1998 was 137.4 (June 1989=100), an increase of 3.5
percent from June 1997.  This compares with increases of 2.8 percent in
June 1997 and 2.9 percent in June 1996....  On a seasonally adjusted
basis, compensation costs for civilian workers rose 0.9 percent during
the March-June 1998 period.  Since September 1991, the three-month
increases in compensation costs have ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 percent....


New orders for manufactured durable goods dipped 0.2 percent in June,
depressed by the UAW strike against GM, the Department of Commerce
reports....  (Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_____New orders for durable
goods, expensive manufactured items such as cars and personal computers
that are meant to last at least three years, fell in June for the second
straight month as the GM strike and Asia's economic turmoil slowed
production....  Investment in new machinery also rose....  (Washington
Post, page E1; Wall Street Journal, page A2)_____Factory orders for
big-ticket goods were driven lower by falling demand for aircraft and
autos.  Outside of transportation, orders posted their largest rise in
almost a year....  (New York Times, page D2).

Data compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs in the first 30 weeks of
1998 show that the median first-year wage increase in newly negotiated
contracts equaled 3 percent, and the weighted average increase for the
settlements reported to data in 1998 was 2.7 percent....  (Daily Labor
Report, page D-3).

Up in arms, but down in clout, is how Business Week characterizes labor
(Aug. 3, page 36).  Behind labor's latest militancy is the offshore
threat, says the magazine....  Illustrating the piece is a chart that
shows the wage gap between union and nonunion members, 1994 to the
present, attributed to BLS.....  While today's 4.5 percent jobless rate
makes it easier for laid-off workers to find other jobs, union members
aren't likely to match the pay of their old ones, says Business Week.
Despite labor's dwindling power, union wages remain a third higher than
nonunion pay, according to BLS figures.  And because the number of union
jobs in the country isn't growing, the likelihood of finding one is
slim....     

Black consumers' spending power is growing faster than the national
average, as blacks are gaining ground in all 50 states, a survey by
University of Georgia economic forecaster Jeffrey M. Humphreys reports.
Reflecting their greater impact on the economy, the study forecasts
black consumers will account for 8.2 percent of total buying power in
1999, compared with 7.4 percent in 1990.  It defines buying power as
after-tax personal income (Washington Post, page E-4)_____The purchasing
power of black consumers has skyrocketed this decade, thanks to a strong
economy, the tightest job market in a generation, and dramatic education
gains.  Total U.S. buying power is projected to have risen 57 percent
from 1990 through 1999, 16 percentage points less than the gain in black
buying power.  Humphreys says education gains made a difference....  But
the typical black household has less than 20 cents of wealth for every
$1 owned by the typical white family, says the publisher of Moneywise
magazine for African Americans....  (USA Today, page 1B).

Despite contentions to the contrary, full-time workers aren't working
more, says Anita U. Hattiangadi, an economist for the Employment Policy
Foundation....  According to Hattiangadi, the full-time workweek numbers
might actually have fallen since the late 1960s, if not for a
demographic shift that produced a higher proportion of prime-age workers
--those 25 to 54 years old--who are the most likely to put in long
hours....  Moreover, the largest increases in hours have come in
better-educated, higher-income households.  This suggests that increased
time at work is largely a choice rather than an economic necessity....
Her research focuses on the length of the average workweek for full-time
employees.  This measure, based on the Current Population Survey,
includes the self-employed and people with multiple jobs. It has been
essentially level since 1968, fluctuating between 42 and 44 hours a
week....  (Business Week, Aug. 3, page 26). 

DUE OUT TOMORROW:  Mass Layoffs in April 1998


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