BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, AUGUST 21, 2001:
>
> RELEASED TODAY:  The number of employed youth 16 to 24 years old increased
> by about 2.4 million from April to July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
> reported today.  This year's seasonal expansion in youth employment was
> slightly larger than last year's growth of 2.2 million.  The number of
> unemployed youth, which also normally grows at this time of year, rose by
> about 450,000 between April and July, about the same as the increase in
> the prior 2 years.
>
> Not all of the unemployed are eligible for unemployment insurance.  Still,
> the fact that only about 40 percent tap unemployment benefits is the
> result of too many rules that exclude workers and benefits that replace
> only about a third of lost wages, economist Jeffrey Wenger, of the
> Economic Policy Institute, a liberal Washington, D.C. think tank, says.
> He argues that a 10 percent increase in wages replaced by unemployment
> benefits would boost the proportion of recipients by about 6 percentage
> points.  Wenger also found that boosting the minimum wage raises the
> proportion of unemployed who can meet state requirements to receive
> benefits (The Wall Street Journal  "Work Week" feature (page A1).
>
> This Christmas could be even bluer than last.  Though it is only August,
> retailers are bracing for what some say could be the worst holiday season
> in a decade.  Hopes are being quashed by eroding consumer confidence,
> layoffs, and rising energy costs, especially in California (The Wall
> Street Journal, page B1).
>
> The index of leading economic indicators posted its fourth straight gain
> in July, rising 0.3 percent, the Conference Board reports, saying the
> index has grown at an annual rate off 1.7 percent over the past 6 months.
> The primary factor pushing the leading index up is the expansionary
> monetary policy adopted by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee
> during the first half of this year (Daily Labor Report, page D-1).
>
> The index of leading economic indicators rose in July for the fourth
> consecutive month, suggesting that the economy will strengthen by the end
> of the year, a private research firm says (Bloomberg News, The New York
> Times, page C2).
>
> Business students, barely recovered from their protracted hunts for summer
> internships, face even bleaker prospects for permanent jobs as classes
> resume in the coming weeks, says The Wall Street Journal (page B1).  Many
> major corporations that wined and dined M.B.A. candidates last fall intend
> to curb their campus recruitment efforts this school year. At the
> University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, the director of
> M.B.A. career services expects the number of recruiting companies, job
> interviews and offers to drop 20 to 25 percent this fall.  A few
> employers, especially in the technology consulting sector, have canceled
> recruitment visits.
>
> DUE OUT TOMORROW:  Extended Mass Layoffs in the Second Quarter of 2001
>

<<application/ms-tnef>>