[PEN-L:3791] FW: BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <RichardD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1996

_____Sharply rising energy and food costs helped push up consumer prices a
seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in March, BLS reports.  Many analysts had
expected a smaller increase in the CPI.  They also believed the core rate --

excluding volatile food and energy components -- would rise less than the
0.3 percent hike recorded in March.  Yet most analysts remain convinced
inflation is not a worry although some have given up hope inflation will
decelerate in 1996.  Energy prices could remain a concern for the next
couple of months, but then should subside, analysts say.  Despite the 4.0
percent annual rate of increase in the CPI for the first quarter, analysts
say the pace will moderate.  Even with some improvement, however, many
forecasters do no expect the CPI to advance by much less than 3 percent for
1996, which compares with 2.5 percent for 1995 ....BLS economist Patrick
Jackman pointed out that, traditionally, inflation runs faster in the first
four months of the year than in the last eight months.  This pattern has
been repeated in 12 of the last 16 years, he said ....While they are
watching the trend closely, many forecasters expect to increase their 1996
inflation forecasts only marginally after recent price reports ....(Daily
Labor Report, pages 2,D-1,A-16).

After adjustment for inflation, the average weekly pay of most Americans
declined 0.5 percent seasonally adjusted in March and was down 0.2 percent
over the year, reports BLS ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-10).

The Labor Department, one of the largest regulatory agencies in the federal
government, has a new and widely used address -- http://www.dol.gov -- that
enables InterNet users to access a vast array of labor-related information.
 Established in September 1995, this InterNet address is the latest in a
series of ongoing efforts of DOL to get regulatory and compliance assistance

information into the hands of the regulated public.  DOL's general server,
which hosts a couple of agencies such as ESA and PWBA, got 439,000 "hits"
last month, meaning that many InterNet users visited the site.  BLS, one of
several agencies that has its own home page, is subject to approximately
400,000 "downloads" a month, meaning users actually retrieve the available
information.  OSHA's site gets about 300,000 "hits" a month.  And America's
Job Bank, which lists job openings by occupation title and geographic site,
boasts about 4 million "hits" a month. ...(Daily Labor Report, pages 2,C-1).