BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2001:
>
> RELEASED TODAY;  The U.S. Import Price Index declined 0.1 percent in
> August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  Falling prices for
> nonpetroleum imports more than offset a small increase in petroleum
> prices.  The Export Price Index decreased 0.2 percent in August, the
> seventh consecutive drop in this index.
>
> Prices of U.S. imports edged down in August, reflecting a decline in
> prices for industrial supplies and capital goods, the government said
> today in a report showing that inflation from abroad is not making its way
> into the United States.  The Labor Department said U.S. import prices fell
> 0.1 percent in August, after falling 1.5 percent in July.  That was
> despite a 1.7 percent rise in petroleum prices during August, the first
> rise since May.  The department said a drop in unfinished metal prices
> last month had the largest impact on import prices, although decreases in
> prices for paper, building materials and chemicals also contributed to the
> decline.  Prices for industrial supplies fell 0.4 percent in August after
> dropping 4.3 percent in July, while capital goods declined 0.1 percent
> after a 0.4 percent drop.  Excluding petroleum, import prices fell 0.4
> percent in August (Reuters,
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23332-2001Sep13.html).
>
> The deficit in the broadest measure of trade shrank in the second quarter
> to its lowest level in more than a year as economic turmoil in the United
> States and abroad cut demand.  The Commerce Department reported yesterday
> that the deficit in the current account narrowed to $106.5 billion in the
> April-June quarter, a 4.7 percent drop from the $111.8 shortfall
> registered in the first 3 months of this year.  "This is the worst
> possible way we could bring a narrowing of the current-account deficit
> because our buying less from abroad now assures that struggling economies
> overseas, particularly in Japan and Germany, will buy less from us in
> future months," said the chief economist at the National Automobile
> Dealers Association (Associated Press, Boston Globe).
>
> As the nation's weakening economy continued to take its toll on workers
> last week, new claims for state unemployment insurance increased.  The
> number of workers filing new applications for jobless benefits rose 21,000
> to a seasonally adjusted 431,000 for the work week ending September 8, the
> Labor Department reported Thursday.  For the previous week, a revised
> 410,000 workers filed for jobless benefits.  The total number of laid-off
> workers drawing unemployment benefits continued to climb, hitting almost
> 3.35 million - levels not seen in nearly a decade, since the country was
> struggling to emerge from the last recession. Analysts say this week's
> terrorists attacks are certain to cascade into problems for the U.S. and
> world economies at a time when consumers, whose confidence was shaky at
> best with concerns about rising unemployment, were the main force keeping
> the economy afloat.  The nation's unemployment rate topped 4.9 percent in
> August (Leon Strope, Associated Press,
> http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/78364p-1097435c.html).
>
> The number of Americans seeking first-time jobless benefits last week rose
> well above expectations, a government report showed on Thursday, signaling
> further weakness in the U.S. labor market as the U.S. economy struggles to
> stay above water.  Nor did this report, which analysts said could herald a
> weak September employment report, reflect any impact from the attacks in
> New York and Washington on Tuesday.  The Labor Department reported that
> the number of initial jobless claims rose by 21,000 to 431,000 for the
> week ended September 8.  That was significantly higher than the 404,000
> claims analysts in a Reuters poll, on average, had forecast.  The
> four-week moving average, considered a more reliable barometer of
> employment conditions because  it irons out weekly fluctuations, rose to
> 411,000 last week from 399,500.  That was the highest level since July 14,
> when the average climbed to 415,250.  The Labor Department said the latest
> week's data collection was not impacted by the terrorist attacks in New
> York and Washington (Joanne Morrison, Reuters,
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23551-2001Sep13.html).
>
> Producer prices of finished goods, to be released by the Bureau of Labor
> Statistics tomorrow,  likely rose 0.1 percent in August, after slipping
> 0.9 percent in July.  Excluding food and energy, core prices likely rose
> 0.1 percent, as energy prices stabilized (Business Week, September 17,
> page 126).
>
> Since January 1, Silicon Valley's 2.2 percent unemployment rate has
> doubled, the manufacturing slump has hiked Detroit's jobless rate to 10
> percent, and 13 million first-time unemployment claims have been filed.
> But job creation is not all doom and gloom in this downturn.  In fact, in
> many Sunbelt regions -- especially those where tourism and farming are big
> -- job growth is coming along quite nicely.  Out-of-work dot-commers may
> not yet be willing to pick fruit, but the No. 1 region for job growth is
> now California's Visalia-Tulare-Porterville region in the Central Valley,
> with 5.36 percent job growth between July 2000 and July 2001, according to
> the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The second-largest job creation area
> is Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, where an influx of affluent retirees
> and tourism have spurred job growth by 4.53 percent.  Las Vegas, thanks to
> tourism and conventions, is No. 4 at 4.08.  In fact, tourism helped 15
> Sunbelt spots in the top 20 job-creation areas (Business Week, September
> 17, page 12).
>
> In a new study in the journal "Economic Inquiry", Hyunbae Chun, of Queens
> College in New York, and Injae Lee, of New York University, claim to solve
> the puzzle.  Analyzing 1999 survey data covering nearly 2,700 men, they
> find that married men earn an average of 12.4 percent more per hour than
> never-married men, after adjusting for age, work experience, education,
> and other factors that may affect both wages and marriage prospects.  The
> two researchers find no evidence that the marriage premium reflects the
> better economic prospects of men who tend to get hitched.  Rather, it
> appears related to the state of being married -- and specifically to the
> likelihood that wives shoulder household tasks.  All of which implies that
> the marriage premium will inevitably shrink as more wives spend longer
> hours at outside jobs (Business Week, September 17, page 36).
>
> American employers have eliminated nearly a million jobs so far this year,
> but job recruiters say a few industries are still looking to fill
> positions.  Job placement services report strong demand in biotechnology,
> energy and construction, while executive search services are finding
> plenty of openings in the areas of medical devices and human resources,
> according to a recent survey of 600 recruiters nationwide.  The survey was
> conducted by two online recruiting services companies.  The rising number
> of unemployed have been a mixed blessing for recruiters themselves.  Just
> about half said good candidates were easier to find, but about 70 percent
> reported a shortage of employers willing to hire them (The New York Times,
> September 9, page 10, "Money & Business" Section).
>
> Retail sales probably increased 0.3 percent in August.  Excluding autos,
> sales probably grew at the same rate (Business Week, September 17, page
> 126).
>
> A 5-year bull market in housing is making economic history both for the
> record 30 million homes sold and for a tremendous surge in home values.
> Home values incrased 34.8 percent on average over the 5 years ended June
> 30, vs. inflation of 13.6 percent, the government says.  Homes appreciated
> faster in the late '70s, but inflation severely eroded gains.  Price gains
> in this housing market are unprecedented in times of low inflation,
> economists say.  Also unique is the geographical breadth of the latest
> rally.  Only Hawaii, with growth in home values of just 1 percent, failed
> to keep pace with inflation (USA Today, page 12B).
>
> The average annual pay of U.S. workers climbed 5.9 percent in 2000 to
> $35,296, according to figures released Sept. 11 by the Bureau of Labor
> Statistics. Pay growth for U.S. workers in 2000 was the highest in the
> 1990-2000 period, making it the largest increase in average annual pay
> since 1982 when pay increased by 6.7 percent (Daily Labor Report, page
> D-1).
>
> Production and service workers will face sharp declines in their job
> opportunities as the year draws to a close, according to projections from
> 238 respondents to BNA's latest quarterly employment survey (Daily Labor
> Report, page D-18).
>
>
> DUE OUT TOMORROW:  Producer Price Indexes -- August 2001
>

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