The next to last item is particularly interesting. At one time we thought it was a shame that kids with college degrees couldn't find suitable employment. Now, applying a magnificent spin, Business Week thinks it is wonderful that so many factory workers now have college degrees. Dave Richardson ---------- BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1996 For the first time in six years, the median income of U.S. households rose in 1995, the Census Bureau reports in its annual income and poverty statistics. Rising income helped push down the poverty rate last year, marking the second straight annual decline .....(Daily Labor Report, pages 1,D5; Washington Post, page A1; New York Times, page A1; USA Today, page 1A; USA Today, page 4B). New claims for unemployment insurance rose by 11,000 during the week ended Sept. 21 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, according to the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-3). The help-wanted advertising index showed virtually no change in August, the Conference Board reports ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-6; Wall Street Journal, page B12). Money continued to pour into the market from both domestic and international investors after new government data showed durable goods orders on the decline and jobless claims on the rise. The reports helped to reinforce the idea that the Fed was right not to tighten monetary policy because the economy is finally slowing of its own accord ....(Wall Street Journal, page C17). A Business Week (Sept. 30, page 60) article says that, today, life on the line requires more brains than brawn -- so laborers are leading for the classroom ....Factories are training more and hiring better-educated workers ....The share of the country's 19 million factory workers with a year or two of college has jumped to 25 percent vs. 17 percent in 1985, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An additional 19 percent have college diplomas today, up from 16 percent a decade ago .... Sens. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and Robert Kerrey (D-Neb) introduced a bill that would establish a bipartisan panel to examine the collection and dissemination of statistical information and assess the data's accuracy. The measure would establish a 13-member panel of experts with backgrounds in actuarial science, demography, economics, and finance. "The commission will examine all facets of out current system, including the organization of agencies, accuracy of data, and public distribution of statistics," according to a statement from Moynihan. The bill would require the panel to present a final report by Jan. 15, 1999 ....
