BLS Daily Report

[Richardson_D <Richardson_D@xxxxxxx>]

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2002:

RELEASED TODAY:  In May 2001, about 29 million full-time wage and salary
workers had flexible work schedules that allowed them to vary the time they
began or ended work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.  The proportion
of workers with such schedules was 28.8 percent, slightly higher than the
figure of 27.6 percent recorded when the data were last collected in May
1997 and nearly double the proportion 10 years earlier.

The median weekly earnings of full-time workers in the first quarter of 2002
increased 3.7 percent over the previous year, according to Bureau of Labor
Statistics figures.  BLS said median weekly wages, measured in current
dollars without adjustment for inflation, climbed to $614 in the first
quarter of 2002 from $605 a week in the fourth quarter of 2001(Daily Labor
Report, page D-8).

Data from newly negotiated contract agreements compiled by the Bureau of
National Affairs through April 15 show a first-year average wage increase of
4.2 percent, compared with 4 percent in the same period of 2001.  The median
first-year increase for the same settlements was 3.7 percent, and the
weighted average increase was 2.1 percent.  Among nonmanufacturing
(excluding construction) settlements, the average increase is 5.1 percent,
while manufacturing contracts post an average increase of 2.5 percent (Daily
Labor Report, page D-14).

New claims for unemployment insurance inched up even as a key gauge of
economic activity suggested the country is recovering from recession.  For
the work week ending April 13, new claims for jobless benefits edged up by a
seasonally adjusted 1,000 to 445,000, the Labor Department reports today.
Meanwhile, the New York-based Conference Board said its Index of Leading
Economic Indicators nudged up 0.1 percent in March to 112.3 after holding
steady in February.  "The recovery in the leading index suggests that
economy is poised for growth through late summer," said Conference Board
economist Ken Goldstein. One of the reasons why layoffs and unemployment
have been rising even though the economy is improving is because businesses,
which had shed workers during the slump, want to make sure the rebound is
here to stay before hiring them back.  That's why employment is considered a
lagging economic indicator (Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press,
http://www.nypost.com/apstories/business/V7004.htm).

Employers are bracing for their third year in a row of double-digit
increases in health care costs, according to industry consultants and
analysts.  The sharply higher costs could lead many employers to offer fewer
health plans, reduce what they cover, or shift more costs to employees.
Companies will probably face average increases of 12 to 15 percent in 2003,
compared with a projected increase of 12.7 percent this year, according to
Mercer Human Resources Consulting (The New York Times, page C1).

Temporary managers are in demand.  "One of the sure signs of a beginning
(economic) recovery is the growing use of temporary workers," says John A.
Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an
international outplacement firm based in Chicago.  More companies are
putting feelers out for managers available for temporary assignments,
indicating that the "post September 11 slump" may be coming to an end, added
Darlene Lepore, New England vice president of Adecco Employment Services,
Inc., a Swiss company that has its U.S. headquarters in Melville, N.Y. And
once the economy picks up speed, some of the managers now working on a
contractual basis will be in line for full-time slots, Lepore and other
employment specialists say (Boston Globe).

Gasoline prices, which have soared 27 percent in the past 3 months, are
headed upward in coming weeks to perhaps the third highest level ever,
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said yesterday. U.S. gas prices may hit a
summer-long average of $1.46 for a gallon of unleaded regular, with a
one-week peak of $1.55 sometime in May or June, as families take to the
roads in warmer weather and later head off on summer vacations, Abraham said
(The Washington Post, page A1).

A jump in imports spurred by the economic rebound widened the U.S. trade
deficit by 11.6 percent to $31.5 billion in February, according to figures
released April 17 by the Commerce Department (Daily Labor Report, page D-1).

DUE OUT TOMORROW:  Regional and State Employment and Unemployment: March
2002

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