[PEN-L:4410] BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

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BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1999

RELEASED TODAY:  In January, 201 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment
rates below the U.S. average (4.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while
117 areas had higher rates.  Of the eight metropolitan areas with jobless
rates of 2.0 percent or less, five were in the South and three were in the
Midwest.  Of the 17 areas with rates of at least 10 percent, 9 were in
California and 5 were along the Mexican border in other states. ...

>From Labor Secretary Herman's testimony before the House Appropriations
Subcomittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, reprinted in
Daily Labor Report (page E-1):  "I am requesting $22 million to improve
statistical indicators which are essential to the development of economic
policy and the ability of businesses, labor and governments to make informed
decisions.  This includes resources to augment the Employment Cost Index
(ECI) with an addition of 7,000 establishment units to its sample. ...  To
expand the application of quality adjustment and accelerate the introduction
of new products for rapidly changing industries in the Producer Price Index
(PPI), extend PPI coverage for the first time in the construction sector of
the economy, to enhance the ongoing expansion of PPI coverage of the service
sector, and to improve our productivity measures, I am requesting $5.1
million. ...  These funds also include a request for resources to continue
the multi-year Consumer Price Index (CPI) Improvement Initiative effort
begun in 1998 to improve the timeliness and accuracy of the CPI.  This is
the third year of the expansion effort to speed the process of updating the
expenditure weights in the CPI Market Basket and to expand the amount of
information collected on prices and characteristics of certain goods and
services. ...  "

__The first data release based on the North American Industrial
Classification System (NAICS) confirms anecdotal evidence about the
importance of technology in the U.S. economy, Commerce Undersecretary for
Economic Affairs Robert J. Shapiro says.  While the information from this
first release based on the 1997 economic census is fairly general compared
with more detailed reports Commerce will issue later this year, it does show
that the information sector was responsible for 3.2 million jobs and annual
payrolls of $135 billion, and $642 billion in receipts at 115,000 locations.
This sector includes publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting, and
information services.  The computer/electronic manufacturing sector had 1.7
million jobs in 1997.  Commerce's first take on these data comes from
information gleaned from the department's 1997 economic census, the nation's
most comprehensive economic survey. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page D-5).
__Until now, when the government measured the economy, haircuts and brain
surgery were categorized under the same heading:  services.  Not anymore.
The Commerce Department unveiled an industry classification system,
scrapping a 60-year-old one that had little relevance to an
information-based economy.  The new system was created to categorize the
results of the 1997 census of business activity at 21 million locations.
Under the government's old system, computers weren't important enough to be
an industry category.  They were grouped with adding machines. ...  There
are 358 new industries in the U.S., including pet care services, casinos,
diet centers, and bed and breakfast inns. ...  As the new system is phased
into monthly and quarterly statistics, the government expects to capture
economic activity that was escaping measurement until now. ...  The system
also is designed to be similar to those in Mexico and Canada, as trade with
these countries continues to grow (USA Today, page 1B).

Industrial production rose 0.2 percent in February, after being flat the
previous month, the Federal Reserve says.  Output in the manufacturing
sector also rose 0.2 percent last month, marking the fifth consecutive
monthly gain. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page D-10).

Overall housing construction fell 0.6 percent in February, but construction
of new, single-family homes rose to its highest level in 20 years, the
Commerce Department reports. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page D-1; USA Today,
page 1B).

Industrial production unexpectedly rose in February, led by a fifth
consecutive monthly gain in factory output, and construction of new homes
stayed near a 12-year high, the latest signs the economy is surging as it
heads into its ninth year of expansion. ...  (New York Times, page C10;
Washington Post, page E7)_____Construction starts of single-family homes
jumped 1.1 percent in February.  But a sharp drop in starts for apartments
pushed overall starts lower last month.  In a separate report, the Federal
Reserve said industrial production, which measures the output of the
nation's factories, mines, and utilities, increased 0.2 percent last month,
following a flat performance in January. ...  (Wall Street Journal, page
A2).

DUE OUT TOMORROW:
   Consumer Price Index -- February 1999
   Real Earnings:  February 1999


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