BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2000

RELEASED TODAY:  Median weekly earrings of the nation's 101.5 million
full-time wage and salary workers were $575 in the third quarter of 2000.
This was 5.3 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 3.5
percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers over the same
period.  Data on usual earnings are collected as part of the Current
Population Survey, a nationwide sample survey of households in which
respondents are asked, among other things, how much each wage and salary
worker usually earns. ...

The Consumer Expenditure Survey was used in an article in last Sunday's The
New York Times Magazine, "The Way We Spend Now" (page 55).  The author,
David Brooks, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, writes, "According to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey, the post-65 set
increased their spending levels faster than any other group between 1987 and
1997.  A lot of this money is spent on entertainment.  The average household
headed by a person 65 to 74 years old now spends more on entertainment than
the average household headed by someone under 25." ...  And, talking about
changing patterns, says, "According to the Consumer Expenditure Survey,
Americans in 1997 spent 13 percent less -- in constant dollars -- on food
away from home than they did in 1987, and 24 percent less on alcoholic
beverages, 18 percent less on reading materials and 15 percent less on
clothing." ...

__Rising energy costs again caused an outsized increase in consumer prices
last month, but a growing number of analysts are now predicting that
inflation will ease during the coming year -- barring some Middle Eastern
event that dramatically interrupts the flow of oil.  The CPI jumped 0.5
percent in September, the largest monthly gain since April, as costs of
energy, apparel, and tobacco items rose sharply.  Over the past 12 months,
increases in energy costs alone were responsible for nearly a full
percentage point of the CPI's 3.5 percent rise.  That increase in the CPI
means that beneficiaries of many government programs, including Social
Security, will see their monthly checks go up by that percentage in January.
...  (John M. Berry in Washington Post, page E1).
__Inflation is now on pace for its largest annual jump in a decade, although
the price increases remain largely confined to energy costs.  The report
further complicates the picture of an economy that seems to be slowing even
as inflation, one of the most common effects of rapid growth, is rising more
rapidly than economists have anticipated.  The CPI rose 0.5 percent in
September and is now growing at an annual rate of 3.8 percent. ...  (David
Leonhardt in New York Times, page C4).
__Propelled by higher oil costs, consumer prices picked up their pace in
September.  As a result, Social Security and Medicare benefits will increase
by the largest amount in 9 years.  Consumer prices rose a seasonally
adjusted 0.5 percent in September, after falling 0.1 percent the month
before.  Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, the core rate
increased 0.3 percent last month, compared with 0.2 percent in August.  Both
numbers were higher than analysts had expected, adding to the turmoil in
equity markets. ...  (Nicholas Kulish and Laurie McGinley in Wall Street
Journal, page A2).

Women hit another glass ceiling; homebody image costs female middle managers
valuable overseas assignment. ...  In an increasingly global business
climate, companies have underestimated female wanderlust, according to a
report released by the research firm Catalyst.  The New York-based
organization, which studies workplace issues affecting women, said
misperceptions about women -- that they prefer to stay in one place, for
example -- have kept female middle managers out of career-enhancing
international assignments.  The report polled human resources executives, as
well as male and female frequent fliers who were based in the United States
but frequently travel overseas.  The survey found that women were indeed
less willing to relocate overseas in the coming year than men, but were more
willing than men to do so further in the future, and far more willing to do
so than their numbers in such jobs indicate. ...  (Washington Post, page
E11).

DUE OUT TOMORROW:  Regional and State Employment and Unemployment:
September 2000

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