BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2000
RELEASED TODAY:
CPI -- On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U was unchanged in April,
following an increase of 0.7 percent in March. The energy index, which rose
4.9 percent in March, declined 1.9 percent in April, registering its first
decrease since last June. The index for petroleum-based energy fell 4.1
percent, while the index for energy services rose 0.5 percent. The food
index rose 0.1 percent in April, the same as in March. Excluding food and
energy, the CPI-U rose 0.2 percent in April, following an increase of 0.4
percent in March. Shelter costs, which increased 0.5 percent in March, rose
0.2 percent in April, accounting for more than half of the April
deceleration in the index for all items less food and energy. Also
contributing to the smaller rise in April was the deceleration in the
indexes for airline fares, for apparel, and for household furnishings and
operations. ...
REAL EARNINGS -- Real average weekly earnings increased by 0.7 percent
from March to April after seasonal adjustment. This was due to a 0.4
percent gain in average hourly earnings and a 0.3 percent rise in average
weekly hours. The CPI-W was unchanged. ...
The pace of U.S. industrial output rose sharply by 0.9 percent in April,
spurred on by the technology sector and utilities, according to figures
released by the Federal Reserve. The combined activity of factories, mines,
and utilities sent industrial production up, following an upwardly revised
0.7 percent gain in March. Utilities rebounded strongly from a negative
posting in March to 2.8 percent growth in April. ... (Daily Labor Report,
page D-1)_____Industrial production last month made its largest gain in 20
months, reinforcing expectations that Federal Reserve policymakers will
raise interest rates when they meet today. ... (Washington Post, page
E1)_____Production of the nation's factories, mines, and utilities grew at
the fastest pace in nearly one and a half years, as businesses scrambled to
meet demand. Analysts said the report underlined the economy's momentum and
made it nearly certain that the central bank would raise interest rates by
half a percentage point when its policymakers meet. ... (New York Times,
page C28; Wall Street Journal, page A2).
While labor force participation hovered above 95 percent for both black and
white men in 1955, it has since fallen to less than 85 percent for black
men, while remaining above 90 percent for white and Hispanic men, says
Michael A. Fletcher in a Washington Post article (page A3) reporting on a
jobs boot camp for the marginalized in Baltimore. ... "The rough rule of
thumb is that the ratio is two to one when you compare the black and white
unemployment rates," says a fellow at the Urban Institute. "That ratio
holds true in good times as well as bad." Economists and other analysts say
the reasons for this disparity are complex. Some factors seem plain: lower
educational and skill levels among African Americans; the move of many
businesses from central cities to the suburbs; a declining number of
industrial jobs, which employed a disproportionate share of blacks; a lack
of work experience; a shortage of job contacts; and soaring incarceration
rates, drug abuse, and other social ills that disproportionately affect
African Americans. But those factors do not fully explain the gap.
Instead, researchers say African Americans often suffer from the hazy
assumptions of employers who conclude that blacks lack the attitude,
communications ability, and other "soft skills" needed to succeed in the
workplace. Analysts cite that as a reason that African Americans are more
likely to be unemployed than Latinos, who as a group have lower educational
levels than African Americans. Nationwide, the unemployment rate for
Latinos is 5.4 percent. ... But with unemployment at the lowest point in a
generation, some employers are now recruiting workers they have shunned in
the past. They are giving second chances to drug addicts or ex-offenders
and offering opportunities to people with little work experience or
confidence. ... "For the first time, we are tapping into all of the groups
that have historically been left out of this economy," says Labor Secretary
Alexis Herman. ...
President Clinton signed an executive order banning discrimination against
parents in the Federal workplace; it is now illegal to deny jobs or
promotions to people because they have obligations to children at home, says
Sylvia Ann Hewlett, a fellow at Harvard's Center for the Study of Values in
Public Life and chairman of the National Parenting Association, on the op.
ed. page of The New York Times (page A31). ... A substantial gap between
men's and women's earnings has been a stubborn feature of the American labor
market. In 1998, the gap between the earnings of men and women who worked
full time stood at 27 percent, according to the latest census figures. It
now seems that this gap has little to do with gender and everything to do
with children. In a recent study, Jane Waldfogel, an economist at Columbia
University, showed how childbearing exerts enormous downward pressure on
women's wages. Using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys, she
compared the earning power of mothers and nonmothers across occupations --
controlling for age, education, and experience -- and found that childless
women now earn 90 percent of what their male counterparts earn, while
mothers earn only 73 percent. ...
The wage gap narrows between union and nonunion workers, says The Wall
Street Journal's "Work Week" feature (page A1). Union hourly wage costs
rose 12.4 percent to $16.21 between 1995 and last year, while nonunion wage
costs rose 13.8 percent to $13.54 during the same period. In fact,
according to a recent report from BLS, nonunion wages have been climbing
faster than union wages since 1982. Albert Schwenk, an economist for BLS,
attributes the change to an increase in the number of white-collar workers.
"White-collar workers get more increases, and union members tend not to be
white collar," he said. Ron Blackwell, director of corporate affairs for
the AFL-CIO, notes the numbers don't include benefits -- union benefits cost
$8.53 an hour, compared with $4.66 for nonunion benefits. Also union wages
are still higher, so small differences in growth rates don't matter, he
says.
Several occupational shortages are noted in The Wall Street Journal's "Work
Week" feature (page A1). The Truckload Carriers Association, citing a
shortage of drivers, petitions the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration to allow drivers under 21 behind the wheel. The need for
software testers is great, says the chief executive of Software Development
Technologies in San Jose, Calif., which recently opened an office in India
to meet its need. In a tight labor market, temporary workers often are
hired by the temporary agency customer. Firms find that snatching up temps
is easier than recruiting employees. At Milwaukee-based Manpower, the
portion of workers hired permanently by customers has risen from the usual
40 percent, although the company doesn't offer specifics.
DUE OUT TOMORROW: College Enrollment and Work Activity of 1999 High School
Graduates
DUE OUT FRIDAY: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment: April 2000
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