[PEN-L:6089] BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1999

Amid widespread worries that the global economy has become highly dependent
on the robust U.S. expansion, top policymakers from the Group of Seven
industrial countries declared that they "remain committed to a growth
strategy" aimed at providing a broader and more solid underpinning to the
world's economic health.  But the G-7 offered scant signs that new steps
might be in the offing to boost growth in Japan, which remains mired in a
prolonged period of stagnation, or Europe, where growth has faltered in
recent months.  The poor performance in the giant Japanese and European
economies has sparked concern that the world could slump into recession if
the U.S. economy also slows in coming months, as many forecasters expect.
....  (Washington Post, page E1)_____The U.S. told Germany and Japan that the
world economy could not run for long on only one engine:  an American
economy that keeps expanding as Europe slows and Tokyo prays that a
seven-year recession is ending.  But after a daylong meeting of the finance
ministers and central bankers of the world's seven largest industrialized
economies, it became clear that even two years of global financial turmoil
had done little to forge a consensus about reviving economic growth. ...
(New York Times, page C1)_____G-7 officials met with a sense of cautious
optimism, a contrast to the fear of global financial panic that pervaded
their meeting six months ago. ...  (Wall Street Journal, page A2).

To address the shortage of information technology workers, Manpower Inc.,
Milwaukee, invests in a yearlong technology training program for high
schoolers.  Last fall, Manpower, working with other training and test
providers, began offering a computer-networking class and basic Microsoft
certification to about 200 students in 11 pilot schools nationwide. ...  The
skills let them bounce between projects and employers, OK by many teens. ...
(Wall Street Journal in its "Work Week" feature, page A1).

Physical therapists, once heavily recruited, now ask for jobs.  Cuts in
therapists' slots result from decreased Medicare reimbursement for
outpatient care.  Allied Consulting Inc., an Irving, Texas, health care
staffing group, reports its physical therapy job searches in 41 states
plunged to seven in 1998 from 161 in 1997.  About 18 months ago, physical
therapists were at full employment, says the American Physical Therapy
Association.  Today, 3 percent are out of work. ...  Jobs are moving back to
lower-paying hospitals from outpatient centers and nursing homes. ...  (Wall
Street Journal in its "Work Week" column, page A1).

The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said that he likely
would support bids by U.S. stock exchanges to extend trading hours.  But he
would prefer the exchanges wait until next year. The NASD is drawing up a
proposal to extend trading hours to as late as 9 p.m. from the current 4
p.m.  The New York Stock Exchange envisions extended trading in mid-2000
(USA Today, page 1B).

DUE OUT TOMORROW:  Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment:  March
1999

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