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BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1998
_____Private industry wages accelerated in 1997, driving up overall
compensation costs 3.4 percent in the year - the largest increase since
1993, BLS reports. Wages and salaries in the private sector rose 3.9
percent in 1997, the largest calendar year increase since 1990. The
acceleration in wages has prompted some economists to proclaim that wage
inflation - long expected - has finally arrived ....(Daily Labor Report,
page D-1).
_____Bond prices tumbled amid new worries about inflation after the
Labor Department reported that private employers' labor costs rose 1.2
percent in the final three months of last year, the largest quarterly
increase in five years. But details of the report showed that a large
share of the acceleration was driven by skyrocketing commissions related
to the wave of mortgage financings and refinancings triggered by a sharp
drop in interest rates. A number of analysts said that, given the
source of the acceleration, the report did not give any reason to expect
inflation to worsen this year ....(Washington Post, page C9).
_____Bond prices tumble on a report showing rising labor costs ....A
one-time surge in commissions may have pumped up data on wages ....(New
York Times, page D10).
_____The ECI showed that pressure from tight labor markets continues to
escalate ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2).
Personal income increased 1.1 percent in the third quarter of 1997, the
smallest quarterly increase in two years, but still more than double the
inflation rate of the period, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports
.....(Daily Labor Report, page D-15)
Although the number of new businesses started nationwide in 1997 fell
slightly, the number of jobs created by start-ups grew strongly compared
with 1996, according to a report by Dun & Bradstreet ....(Daily Labor
Report, page A-10).
Consumer confidence fell in January from a record high in December 1997
as consumers relayed concern about the impact of the Asian economic
crisis on the U.S. economy, the Conference Board says ....(Daily Labor
Report, page A-3; Washington Post, page C9; Wall Street Journal, page
A2).
For the fourth consecutive year, national health spending for 1997 is
expected to have grown no faster than the GDP, the longest period in the
last 30 years in which health expenditures have not outpaced economic
growth, according to Congressional Budget Office projections ....(Daily
Labor Report, page A-8).
Record 1997 profits for Detroit's Big Three automakers will translate
into record profit-sharing checks for hourly and salaried workers at
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler Corp., executives say
.....(Daily Labor Report, page A-2).
Unemployed hit brick walls even in good times, says a USA Today story
(page 1B). Fruitless efforts frustrate the young, and the old ....One
of the statistics overlooked in this booming economy is unemployed
workers struggling to find jobs despite a 4.7 percent unemployment rate
- a 24-year low. Some of these jobless are young workers lacking
skills. But many are executives and managers with sterling resumes,
proven experience, and Ivy League educations. The problem is finding a
place to go ....Many simply give up. BLS reports 345,000 people weren't
looking for a job in December because they were discouraged over job
prospects. That compares with 331,000 the month before. The average
duration of unemployment was 16.3 weeks in December, up slightly from
15.6 weeks the month before ....
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