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_01BE00EB.55485D90 charset="iso-8859-1" BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1998 RELEASED TODAY: In July 1998, there were 1,862 mass layoff actions by employers as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 235,996. Both the number of layoff events and initial claimants for unemployment insurance were somewhat lower than in July 1997. ... After adjustment for inflation, the median weekly earnings of the nation's full-time wage and salary workers were 2.6 percent higher in the third quarter of 1998 then they were a year earlier, according to data released by BLS. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-5). Manufacturers increasingly are considering laying off workers to cut costs as the economy slows and firms are unable to raise prices, National Association of Manufacturers President Jasinowski says at a briefing held to announce NAM's economic survey. "They are also talking about holding down merit wage increases." As recently as early this year when the economy was booming, manufacturers were able to make up in volume what they lost by an inability to pass on prices increases, Jasinowski says. But now that demand has slowed, pressure is mounting on manufacturers to cut costs, he says. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-2). Data compiled by BNA in the first 42 weeks of 1998 showed that the median first-year wage increase in newly negotiated labor contracts equals 3 percent, the same increase as that reported for the comparable period in 1997. The weighted average increase for settlements reported to date in 1998 was 3 percent, compared with 2.8 percent in 1997. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-10). Construction of new homes and apartments dropped 2.5 percent in September, the second straight monthly decline, but analysts say the housing market remains healthy. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-1; New York Times, page C20: Wall Street Journal, page A2). The United States is splurging on energy, says The New York Times (page A1). Twenty-five years after an oil embargo proved that fuel supplies were neither reliable nor endlessly cheap, the United States has given up almost all the gains it made in conserving energy. On average, Americans have returned to consuming nearly as much energy as ever before. ... Declining energy prices - now lower in real terms than before the first oil embargo - have made the difference, the article contends. In the dollar-a-gallon era, why spend much time or money saving a gallon or a watt? Evidence of the more energy intensive life style is everywhere. Since the early 1970s, as the average household has shrunk by a sixth, the average new home has grown by a third. Even moderately priced homes are now stuffed with energy-hungry features, from central air-conditioning to Jacuzzis and security systems. ... 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[PEN-L:666] BLS Daily Report
Richardson_D Mon, 26 Oct 1998 09:14:52 -0500boundary="---- =_NextPart_000_01BE00EB.55485D90"