BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2000
The Daily Labor Report (page A-7) reprints two articles from the January
2000 issue of BLS' Monthly Labor Review. Labor Department analysts reviewed
changes made by state governments during 1999 in the areas of workers'
compensation and unemployment insurance programs. ... An article by Glenn
Whittington of the Employment Standards Administration finds that during
1999 several states looked at ways to provide workers' compensation coverage
to "volunteer" workers, while other states examined ways to deal with claims
filed by employees whose use of illegal drugs or alcohol contributed to
their injuries. ... An article by Robert Kenyon Jr., of the Employment and
Training Administration finds that some states changed their unemployment
insurance programs to address issues such as job loss related to avoiding
domestic abuse and the conditions under which wage information gathered for
the program might be released to third parties. ...
The Wall Street Journal's feature "Tracking the Economy" (page A2) forecasts
the U.S. unemployment rate for March, to be released Friday, at 4.0 percent.
The actual February rate was 4.1 percent. The average hourly earnings
figure for March is projected to be $13.57, compared with the $13.53 figure
for February.
Economic reports released in March add up to a pretty clear picture: Growth
remains rapid, despite the Federal Reserve's attempts to engineer a
slowdown. Less certain is how the Fed will react to all this data.
Although the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee March 21
boosted the federal funds rate target by a quarter percentage point, the
fifth such hike in the key interest rate since June, the economy continues
to grow much faster than the 3.5 to 4 percent rate that analysts say the Fed
prefers without worrying about an inflation surge. ... (Daily Labor Report,
page D-1).
February spending surged 1 percent contrasted with a modest 0.4 percent gain
in personal income, the Bureau of Economic Analysis says. ... Rapid
spending and moderate income growth brought the nation's savings rate down
to an all-time low of 0.8 percent of disposable personal income. ... (Daily
Labor Report, page D-3)_____American consumers, the driving force behind the
supercharged economy, spent with abandon in February, at a pace more than
double their income growth. The level of spending, however, dragged the
personal savings rate to a record low. Economists said the report means
that the Federal Reserve has not finished raising interest rates to slow the
economy and keep inflation from becoming a problem. ... (Washington Post,
April 1, page E8)_____Consumer spending surged in February, even though
income growth slowed. Two other reports showed strength in factory
production. ... (New York Times, April 1, page B2)_____U.S. households
returned to their spend-first, save-later ways in February, but a decline in
consumer optimism about the economy could slow spending in the months to
come. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2).
"Ten years ago, an employer wouldn't even look at an ex-con," said the
director of the Detroit Employment and Training Office. Now that the city's
unemployment rate is 5.5 percent, down from 14.1 percent 10 years ago, some
companies have changed their approach. ... Prisoners released today are
also helped by demographics There are fewer people in their late teens and
early 20's, prime ages for filling entry level jobs. But the dearth of
young workers will not last, and by 2008, it will be as hard for future
prisoners as it was for prisoners released 10 years ago, said a professor of
public health at Columbia University. There are longer-term concerns, too.
"When they leave prison, relatively few offenders are really trained to move
into the 21st century economy and work force," says the dean of the
University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Work. ... (New York Times,
page A12).
DUE OUT TOMORROW: Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment: February
2000
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