> BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1997 > > Wage data compiled in the first 12 weeks of 1997 show a median > first-year wage increase of 3 percent an hour. In manufacturing > agreements, the year-to-date median wage increase is 3 percent an > hour, and, in nonmanufacturing settlements (excluding construction), > the year-to-date median wage increase is also 3 percent ....(Daily > Labor Report, page D-3). > > The 1990s saw black women enter higher-paying managerial and > professional jobs in record numbers, but Hispanic women were still > likely to hold low-paying service jobs, the Women's Bureau said in > three separate fact sheets. The bureau found that more black and > Hispanic women are in the U.S. labor force than ever before, but that > most women continue to earn less than their male counterparts ....Most > of the statistics contained in the fact sheets are from BLS and the > Census Bureau (Daily Labor Report, page A-9). > > __In the year 2050, more Americans will be old, retired, Asian, and > Hispanic, a new Census Bureau report, "The State of the Nation, 1997," > says. The bureau predicts a slow-growing population that will > increase to 394 million by the middle of the next century. The slow > growth is due in large part to the progress of baby boomers out of > their reproductive years and into retirement ....There are now some > 265 million Americans, for whom the Census Bureau paints a rosy > picture of declining poverty, relatively stable child care > arrangements, higher levels of education, and an overall increase in > real household income. The number of people living in poverty dropped > significantly between 1994 and 1995, from 38.1 million to 36.4 > million, the report said ....Thirty percent of American children were > being cared for in organized day-care programs in 1993, the most > recent year for which figures were available ....Some 41 million > Americans lacked health insurance in 1995, a figure unchanged from the > previous year .....(Washington Post, page A11). > __For the first time in six years, there was an increase in real > median household income. From 1994 to 1995, it climbed by 2.7 > percent, to $34,076 from $33,178. But the median earnings of > individual women working full time year year round actually declined > 1.5 percent after adjusting for inflation, from $22,834 in 1994 to > $22,497 in 1995. Men held roughly steady at $31,496. And women still > earn only 71 cents for every dollar that a man earns for the same work > ....In 1995, 82 percent of adults over 25 years old had completed high > school, and 23 percent had earned a bachelor's degree or more. Both > figures are record highs ....(New York Times, page A32). > __Hispanics seen as the largest minority by 2005, and, by the middle > of the next century, they will outnumber all other minority groups > combined ....(Washington Times, page A6). > > The Commerce Department reports that new orders for manufactured > durable goods advanced 1.5 percent in February, buoyed by increased > bookings for electrical equipment and for industrial machinery and > equipment ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_____Orders for durables > jump, a sign of stronger growth ....(New York Times, page D3; Wall > Street Journal, page A2; Washington Times, page B7). > > Labor productivity in mining has soared in the 1980-95 period thanks > to advances in technology and a period of relative labor harmony, Joel > Darmstadtor, an economist with Resources for the Future, told a > gathering in Washington, D.C. ....Although the United States extracted > more coal in 1996 than in 1980, employment dropped from 246,000 to > 100,000, according to data from BLS ....(Daily Labor Report, page > A-7). >
