BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, AUGUST 27, 2001:
>
> Hiring prospects in most industries and regions remain bleak, at least
> through the fourth quarter of this year, according to a recent survey by
> Manpower, Inc., the Milwaukee-based temporary help firm.  Manpower said
> its survey of about 16,000 U.S. firms showed that only 24 percent of
> companies plan to add workers in the fourth quarter, while 11 percent
> expect to trim their payrolls.  By comparison, the survey showed a year
> ago that about 32 percent of employers planned to expand their hiring in
> the fourth quarter of 2000, and only 7 percent expected to cut jobs. The
> new figures show a modest decline in hiring from the last quarter, without
> seasonal adjustment, said Manpower's chairman and chief executive officer.
> Therefore, the survey suggests "no clear evidence of a trend reversal in
> hiring in the months ahead," he said.  Manufacturing is likely to remain
> the weakest sector in the next few months (Daily Labor Report, page A-12;
> Associated Press, The New York Times, page C8; The Wall Street Journal,
> page A2; http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/68222p-968013c.html).
>
> Scores of industries are hiring, says Ron Scherer,
> http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0827/p1s1-usec.html.  One indication that
> jobs are available:  The newly unemployed are taking only 2.07 months on
> average to find another job. "The unemployment rate would not be at 4.5
> percent if that were not happening," says John Challenger of Chicago
> outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas, which tracks firing and
> hiring patterns. "We expect unemployment to peak at about 5.3 percent next
> spring, says economist David Wyss of Standard & Poor's DRI in New York.  A
> significant portion of the layoffs are concentrated in two areas:
> manufacturing and temporary services. These two categories lost 1.2
> million jobs in the past year.  Still, even as manufacturing and temp
> services have shed jobs, there has been a gain of 2 million new jobs in
> the U.S. over the past year.  This is about the same as last year but the
> mix has changed.  Companies are hiring more managerial and professional
> workers. Among dotcoms, for all their woes, demand continues strong for
> technical employees.  A year about there were about 1 million unfilled
> jobs.  Now computer experts estimate this is down to about 400,000 to
> 500,000 jobs looking for workers, says the head of the National
> Association of Computer Consultant Businesses in Alexandria. Virginia.
>
> Many retailers are bracing themselves for one of the rockier shopping
> seasons in years, as parents and children, teenagers and college students
> head into stores this month in preparation to go back to school (The New
> York Times, August 25, page B1).
>
> Sales of previously owned homes slid in July to their lowest point in 7
> months, as prospective buyers were put off by the slumping economy and job
> jitters.  The National Association of Realtors reports that existing home
> sales fell by 3 percent in July from the previous month, to a seasonally
> adjusted annual level of 4.94 million in December.  But even with the
> drop, existing home sales are still running at healthy levels (Jeannine
> Aversa, Associated Press,
> http://www.nypost.com/apstories/business/V8275.htm).
>
> Health insurance premiums are expected to surge at double-digit rates
> again next year a sign that rising medical inflation isn't just a
> temporary blip but the beginning of a new era that will force employers
> and workers to make tough and costly choices.  Spurred by increased costs
> for drugs, hospital care and doctors, health insurers are seeking premium
> increases next year of 13 percent, 20 percent, and even 50 percent -- the
> highest in a decade (USA Today, page 1).
>
> Gasoline prices leapt to their highest level in more than 2 months, as
> supply concerns intensified ahead of the high-demand Labor Day weekend
> (The Wall Street Journal, page C14).
>
> The average price of gasoline, including all grades and taxes, was $1.51,
> up 6.25 cents in the past 2 weeks, according to the Lundberg Survey of
> 8,000 stations Associated Press,
> http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/68185p-967662c.html).
>
> Contradicting recent signs of hope in the stock market, new orders for
> durable goods, in particular technology products, tumbled in July, though
> there were faint signs that the pace of business investment retrenchment
> might be slowing.  Total orders for durable goods -- those meant to least
> 3 or more years --sank 0.6 percent in July from June, the Commerce
> Department said.  June's drop was revised to a steeper 2.6 percent from
> the originally reported 1.7 percent.  Excluding defense related products,
> new orders fell 1 percent (The Wall Street Journal, page A2, The Journal's
> page 1 graph is of durable goods orders, 2000 to the present).
>

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