[PEN-L:11379] FW: BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1997

RELEASED TODAY:  The U.S. Import Price Index increased 0.4 percent in
June.  A rise in both imported petroleum prices and nonpetroleum
prices contributed to the increase.  The U.S. Export Price Index fell
for the third straight month, dipping 0.1 percent in June, due to a
continued decline in agricultural prices ....

BLS estimates that there were 1,009 mass layoffs in April 1997, about
the same as in April 1996.  Looking at data for April, BLS finds that
California had the largest number of initial claims filed by people
fired in mass layoffs -- 56,401 (Daily Labor Report, page D-7).

New claims for unemployment insurance benefits decreased by 28,000 to
a seasonally adjusted 349,000 in the week ended July 12, the Labor
Department announces.  The fall reverses much of the sharp increase in
new claims during the previous week ....(Daily Labor Report, page
D-5).

Construction of new single-family homes and apartments rebounded
strongly in June, rising 4.8 percent with gains in all regions except
the Northeast, the Commerce Department says ....(Daily Labor Report,
page D-1; New York Times, page C6; Wall Street Journal, page A2).

Housing starts rose, bolstered by falling interest rates and a strong
job market ....New claims for state jobless benefits fell but had
surged the previous week as automakers laid off workers because plants
are being retooled for 1998 model production (Washington Post, page
G2).