BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, AUGUST 28, 2001:
>
> About 372,000 workers were laid off in the second quarter by big employers
> tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Seasonal work, such as
> agriculture, accounted for about a third of those job cuts ("Work Week"
> feature, The Wall Street Journal, page A1).
>
> Consumer confidence dropped for the second consecutive month in August,
> reflecting growing consternation among Americans about a lack of jobs and
> unemployment, the New York-based Conference Board says.  Its Consumer
> Confidence Index eroded to 114.3, down from a revised 116.3 in July.  The
> drop followed two consecutive gains in May and June, and is the lowest
> level since the index hit 109.9 in April.  "The deteriorating U.S. job
> market dampened consumer spirits this month," says the director of the
> Conference
> Board's Consumer Research Center.  The Conference Board Index, based on a
> monthly survey of some 5,000 U.S. households, is considered a key
> indicator because consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the
> nation's economic activity (Associated Press,
> http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/68867p-978957c.html).
>
> Human resource positions are getting cut, and they might not all come
> back, says "Work Week" feature of The Wall Street Journal,
> (page A1). One rule of thumb says a company should have a human resources
> employee for every 100 regular employees.  In some cases, cuts brought
> about by more general layoffs might be permanent.  Companies are turning
> to software and outsourcing to replace human resource functions such as
> payroll and benefits.  "Once they get the numbers down, they don't go up,"
> says the chief executive officer of the Society for Human Resource
> Management, who expects the 100-to-one ratio to widen.  But WordatWork, an
> association of compensation and benefits managers, says new technology
> actually can add human resource jobs.
>
> Despite a slowing economy and a surge in layoffs, the time that managers
> and executives are spending on job searches is virtually the same as when
> the economy was thriving, a recent survey shows.  Judging from the survey
> of 1,616 executives who found jobs through Manchester, Inc., the median
> length of time needed to find a new job is 13 weeks.  People over 40,
> however, needed slightly more time, a median of 16 weeks, and those who
> had earned more than $100,000 a year required even more -- 20 weeks (The
> New York Times, August 26, "Money & Business" section, page 8).
>
> Executive pay increased 571 percent between 1990 and 2000, not adjusting
> for inflation, says the latest study by the Institute for Policy Studies
> and United for a Fair Economy, a Boston-based nonprofit that works to
> spotlight economic inequality.  "CEO pay rose even in 2000, a year in
> which the S&P 500 suffered a 10-percent loss," IPS analysts reported.  The
> salaries of America's chief executives rose far more sharply than workers'
> paychecks, which incrased by 37 percent in the 1990s and barely stayed
> ahead of inflation, which rose by 32 percent.  "CEO pay now stands at 531
> times the pay of the average worker," they reported.  If salaries of
> production workers had grown at the same rate as their top bosses, these
> workers would have earned an average of $120,491 last year instead of
> $24,668.  If the minimum wage had grown at the same rate as CEO pay during
> the 1990s, "it would now be $25.50 an hour rather than the current $5.15
> an hour," IPS said (The Washington Post, page A13; Chicago Tribune).
>
> The Commerce Department's second look at second-quarter economic growth,
> to be released tomorrow, is expected to show real GDP grew at just a 0.1
> percent annual rate, down from the advance estimate of 0.7 percent.  A
> further drop in inventories and a decline in exports are expected to bring
> the economy to near-zero growth.  Third quarter real GDP is forecast to
> rebound to an annual rate of 1.5 percent. Personal income, due out
> Thursday, likely grew by 0.3 percent in July, after increasing 0.3 percent
> in June.  Consumer spending in July probably grew by a smaller 0.2
> percent, after rising 0.4 percent in June.  Consumers are beginning to
> spend less and save more in response to growing job jitters.
> Manufacturing inventories, due out Friday, likely fell for a sixth
> straight month, by 0.2 percent in July, after a 0.7 percent drop in June
> (Business Week, September 3, page 98).
>
> DUE OUT TOMORROW: Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment:  July
> 2001
>

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