BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

BLS  DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2001

Deteriorating economic conditions prompted the Federal Reserve to cut
short-term interest rate targets by half a percentage point, a surprise move
economists said sets the stage for further rate reductions and signals the
central bank's commitment to keep the U.S. economy from sliding into a
recession. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page A7; page A1 in Washington Post,
New York Times, Wall Street Journal).

Staffing companies expect higher wages for temporary workers in the early
months of 2001, according to the American Staffing Association's quarterly
survey.  Wages for temporary workers increased 5 percent between the third
quarter of 1999 and the third quarter of 2000, the survey says. ...  ASA's
research indicates that wage increases for temporary workers are outpacing
those of other workers, according to an ASA spokesman.  He cited Bureau of
Labor Statistics data showing that overall wages rose 4 percent during the
same time period, while temporary workers saw 5 percent wage increases.
Anecdotally, many staffing companies have reported raising wages up to 10
percent since early 2000, he added.  "The labor market is still tight, and
staffing firms' wages have gone up to address the shortage of workers." he
said.  Staffing companies also saw an increase in the use of temporary
workers in the past year, the survey found.  On average, 3.14 million
temporary workers were employed on each working day during the third quarter
of 2000, according to ASA.  That figure is up from 2.96 million recorded a
year earlier. ...  About 100 companies supplied the most recent quarterly
data on the temporary worker population, while about 200 respondents
supplied the most recent wage data for that group, ASA said (Daily Labor
Report, page A-2).

Data compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs in all of 2000 show a
weighted average first-year wage increase in newly negotiated contracts of
3.8 percent, compared with 3.2 percent in 1999.  The manufacturing
settlements provided a weighted average increase of 3.2 percent, the same as
that negotiated in 1999.  The weighted average increase in nonmanufacturing
agreements excluding construction contracts was 4 percent, compared with 3
percent a year earlier. ...  (Daily Labor Report, page D-1).

Auto sales slowed precipitously last month, with domestic automakers
reporting plunges of up to 18 percent from year-ago levels.  Foreign
automakers, though, escaped almost unscathed and gained market share. ...
(New York Times, page C1)_____U.S. auto sales fell 8 percent in December,
the second straight month of declines, as the economic slowdown tightened
its grip on consumers at the end of a record sales year.  Even with the
Federal Reserve's move to cut interest rates, auto makers said the watchword
for 2001 is caution. ...  (Wall Street Journal, page A3)

Construction spending fell in November, the first drop in 4 months, but
remained at a level suggesting that builders have escaped the economic
slowdown, Commerce Department figures show.  A drop in outlays on public
works and home improvements led the November decline, the largest since
spending fell 0.7 percent in July, the last decrease.  Still, spending on
single-family homes increased for the first time in 8 months.  It also
increased on apartments, condominiums, and town houses and on industrial
projects and public schools. ...  (New York Times, page C2).

As retailers' final holiday sales tallies trickle in, one thing is clear:
The strong finish many retailers hoped would save their most important
shopping season never materialized. ...  (Wall Street Journal, page
B13)_____Retailers benefited from sharp markdowns the final week of
December, but fell short of what was needed to lift overall sales for the
crucial holiday shopping season.  According to the Redbook Average, sales
were up 2.4 percent the week ended Dec. 30, contributing to the month's
average 2.1 percent sales gain vs. 4.5 percent a year ago. ...  (USA Today,
page 1B).

Fewer than one in four employers now provide medical coverage of any kind
for Medicare-eligible retirees; 40 percent provided retiree coverage in
1994, according to a recent survey of companies with 500 or more employees
by William M. Mercer, a benefits consulting company.  About 31 percent of
employers still cover retirees under age 65, who are not yet eligible for
Medicare, but that, too, is down -- from 43 percent in 1994 and 46 percent
in 1993, Mercer said.  The largest companies, those with at least 5,000
employees, are more likely to cover retirees, said the research director in
Washington for the benefits consulting firm Hewitt Associates.  However,
even many of them have limited the benefits by raising deductibles, or
placing caps or ceilings on how much they will pay, and shifting other costs
to the former employees, he said. ...  (New York Times, Dec. 31, "Money &
Business" section, page 8).

"It's all in the numbers," says The New York Times (Dec. 31, page 7, "Week
in Review") in an article headlined "Measuring a Century". ...  The Times
quotes from "The First Measured Century:  An Illustrated Guide in Trends in
America, 1900-2000" by Theodore Caplow, Louise Hicks, and Ben J. Wattenberg
and published by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy
Research to complement a PBS documentary. ...  Among the insights:  The
number of Americans doubled in the first half of the century and almost
doubled again in the second half.  But Americans made up 4.5 percent of the
world's population in 2000, just as in 1900. ...  Air conditioning helped
shift population from the Northeast.  In 1900, the Midwest was the most
populous region.  Now, the South is (if Texas is considered a western state,
then the West is). ...  In 1900, only 6 percent of married women worked
outside the home.  That percentage has soared to 61 percent.  The percentage
of working married women with children under the age of 6 is even higher --
64 percent.  In 1900, women accounted for 1 percent of lawyers and 6 percent
of doctors.  By the end of the century, those percentages had risen to 29
and 26 percent, respectively. ...  At the close of the century, 8 to 10
households were headed by married couples.  By 1998, a little more than half
were. ...  In 1900, families spent an average of 43 percent of their incomes
on food, now they spend 15 percent.  As a proportion of income, spending on
clothing has dropped (to 6 percent), risen on medical care (to 17 percent),
and remained fairly constant on housing and household expenses (26 percent).
...

DUE OUT TOMORROW:  The Employment Situation:  December 2000

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