BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1997 The inflation-adjusted median weekly earnings of the nation's 91.3 million full-time wage and salary workers were flat in the fourth quarter of 1996, compared with 1995's fourth quarter, BLS reports. In current dollars, the median earnings actually rose from $484 in the fourth quarter of 1995 to $499 in the fourth quarter of 1996. In the same period, however, the CPI-U rose 3.1 percent. In constant 1992 dollars, median weekly earnings remained stagnant at $304. The BLS data indicate that the gender gap in wages continued ....(Daily Labor Report, pages 2,D-1). Detailed information on 1995 consumer spending patterns drawn from CPI-related databases is now available from BLS. Data are from the Consumer Expenditure Survey -- one of the underpinnings of the monthly CPI report ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-12). About 60 percent of all U.S. women are employed full or part time. The states with the highest percentages are Minnesota, 69.8 percent; Alaska, 67.5 percent; Wisconsin, 67.3 percent; Nebraska, 66.9 percent; Colorado, New Hampshire, and South Dakota, tied with 65.7 percent; North Dakota and Iowa, tied with 65.6 percent; and Utah, 65.5 percent (USA Today, page 1A). A Wall Street Journal article (page A1) says that, in setting the Fed's policy, the chairman bets heavily on his own judgment. Greenspan loves statistics but uses them in ways that puzzle even friends. Some forecasts go awry .... DUE OUT TOMORROW: Employment Cost Index -- December 1996
