[PEN-L:3823] BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

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BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1999

The median tenure of male wage and salary workers dropped between 1951 and
1998, while the tenure of female workers in 1998 was greater than it was 15
years ago, according to a report published by the Employee Benefit Research
Institute.  While research shows the trends of male and female tenure move
in the opposite directions, the numbers do not support fears of decreasing
job security, according to the author of the report.  The study was based on
1951-1998 data from BLS. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page A-5).

__Federal Reserve Board Chairman Greenspan dubs the U.S. economy's
performance admirable, but he cautions that tight labor markets still could
prod inflation higher, while a drop in the stock market, mounting debt, or
trouble from overseas could threaten growth. ...  In his semiannual report
to Congress on the economy and monetary policy, the Fed chief tells the
Senate Banking Committee that economic growth should be slower, but solid,
in 1999, with output advancing between 2.5 percent and 3 percent and
inflation picking up slightly but still moderate.  The nation's jobless
rate, on the other hand, should continue well below 5 percent once again in
1999, according to Greenspan. ...  The Fed chairman points out that the pool
of potential workers has shrunk to its lowest level since 1970 and, at 5.75
percent, it is 2.5 percentage points below average.  How much further U.S.
firms can dip into the labor pool without sparking upward pressure on wages
and prices is hard to tell, he says, but there is very little evidence to
suggest an "imminent acceleration" in the general price level. ...  (Daily
__Fed Chairman Greenspan said that the "fundamental underpinnings" of the
U.S. economy remain strong and predicted that healthy but slower growth, low
unemployment, and low inflation will continue through the year.  But
Greenspan cautioned the Senate Banking Committee "after eight years of
economic expansion, that the economy appears stretched in a number of
different dimensions, implying considerable upside and downside risks to the
economic outlook." ...  (Washington Post, page E1).
__Greenspan described the risks in the nation's long run of prosperity as
balanced between the possibility of too much growth rekindling inflation and
the threat of a stock market drop or further global shocks derailing the
expansion. ...  (New York Times, page C1).
__Greenspan said the Fed is "ready to move quickly" - but doesn't know if it
will be to raise interest rates or to lower them, suggesting that the Fed
isn't planning any change soon. ...  (Wall Street Journal, page A2).

__Consumer confidence in the U.S. economy surged in February, as confidence
in current economic conditions reached an all-time high, the Conference
Board reports. The consumer confidence index advanced 3.2 points to 132.1 in
February, the New York-based research organization says. ...  Consumers
reporting that jobs are "hard-to-get" fell to a record low, 11.7 percent,
and those claiming that jobs are "plentiful" increased to 48.2 percent in
February. ...  More than a quarter of consumers expect a salary increase in
the next 6 months, the board said, while only 5.8 percent expect a pay cut.
....  (Daily Labor Report, page A-2).
__Healthy economic growth and a strong job market bolstered consumer
confidence for a fourth consecutive month in February, and many Americans do
not see the good times ending soon. ...  (New York Times, page C9).
__Consumer confidence swelled to record levels this month low unemployment
and rising wages. ...  (Wall Street Journal, page A2).

The New York Stock Exchange plans to extend its trading hours in a move to
appease foreign investors and moonlight amateurs who are being eyed by
competitors developing new forums to buy and sell stocks after the closing
bell at 4 p.m.  The exchange tentatively plans to open "a few hours earlier"
beginning in June 2000 to trade non-U.S. stocks, a spokesman said.
Ultimately, trading could be extended to all stocks, and the hours could
range from 5 a.m. to midnight. ...  As businesses increasingly become blind
to geographic borders, the world can no longer trade U.S. stocks by Eastern
Standard Time. ...  (Washington Post, page E1).

The number of small businesses providing health insurance for their workers
has declined over the past several years, according to a Kaiser Family
Foundation study.  The percentage of employees of small businesses who have
employer-sponsored health coverage decreased from 52 percent in 1996 to 47
percent in 1998.  The percentage of small businesses offering health-care
benefits fell from 59 in 1996 to 54 in 1998, according to the study, which
added that some of the ones that do offer coverage are tightening
eligibility rules.  The decrease occurred during a period of strong economic
growth.  Premiums for health insurance, however, increased faster last year
than the year before. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page A-11; Washington Post,
page E3).

Improved education and lower interest rates to spur economic growth could
help alleviate unemployment among the young, say panelists at an OECD
meeting in Washington, D.C.  "While our economy is booming, youth
unemployment remains an entrenched and baffling problem,"  AFL-CIO President
Sweeney says.  "These are teens who don't just want to go to work, they need
to go to work.  This has had a huge role in widening the gap between the
rich and the poor." ...  (Daily Labor Report, page A-6).

Warning that the nation's economic future is at risk, a Presidential
advisory committee plans to recommend that federal financing for advance
research in the field of information technology be doubled over the next 5
years.  The report is a result of nearly 2 years of study by a 26-member
Presidential commission - a group divided about equally between leading
university researchers and executives from technology companies.  The
group's appeal for increased federal research funds for computing and
telecommunications at a time when these industries are thriving is based on
the view that the government has a unique role to play in supporting
research that is the seed corn of new businesses 10 to 15 years in the
future. ...  (New York Times, page C1).


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