BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1996 The index of leading economic indicators rose 1.3 percent in February, its largest increase in 20 years, the Conference Board reports. However, the New York-based business research organization also said that much of the increase could be attributed to a rebound in the average length of the factory workweek, as work schedules returned to normal after January blizzards ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-13; Washington Post, page G2; USA Today, page 1B). The economy grew at an anemic annual rate of 0.5 percent in 1995's fourth quarter, and just 2 percent for the year, the Commerce Department reports. But analysts say the drawdown in inventories that slowed growth could help invigorate 1996 ....(Daily Labor Report, pages 2,D-1)_____The economy grew just 2 percent last year, the smallest increase since the last recession ....The 1995 expansion was held back in part by a slim 0.5 percent annual rate of growth in the final 3 months. The GDP had grown at a 3.6 percent rate from August through September (Washington Post, page G1; USA Today, page 1B). Physicians in Massachusetts reported 938 cases of occupational carpal tunnel syndrome over a 3-year period through March 1995, according to the state Department of Public Health. Data from a surveillance system set up 4 years ago are among the first ever compiled by a state. Key findings are that an overwhelming proportion of the cases (70 percent) are among females and that a disproportionately high number of cases occur in the manufacturing sector ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-10).
