Daily Report: Thursday, January 24, 2002 Recent signs of strength in consumer confidence and manufacturing activity may show that the economy is poised to rebound from recession by spring, a panel of top banking economists said January 23. "Despite lingering concerns over the economy, the Federal Reserve's aggressive actions over the past year should soon generate visible signs of recovery," said Gregory Miller, chairman of the economic advisory committee and chief economist at SunTrust Bank in Atlanta. "A years worth of interest rate reductions takes time to germinate within the economy" (Daily Labor Report, page A-5).
Data from newly negotiated contract agreements compiled by BNA through Jan. 21, 2002, showed that the average first-year wage increase was 4.0 percent, compared with 3.7 percent in the comparable period of 2001. The median first-year increase for the same settlements was 3.7 percent, compared with 3.1 percent a year ago, and the weighted average increase was 2.1 percent, compared with 3.6 percent (Daily Labor Report, page D-1). Female managers are not only making less money than men in many industries, but the wage gap has also deepened during the economic boom years of 1995 to 2000, a congressional study to be released today reports. Full-time female managers earned on average less than their male counterparts in the 10 industries that employ 71 percent of all female workers, and in seven of the 10 fields, the pay difference widened. The study found that a full-time female communications manager earned 86 cents for every dollar a male made in her industry in 1995. In 2000, she made 73 cents on the man's dollar. The study was prepared by the General Accounting Office using data from the Department of Labor's quarterly Current Population Survey (Washington Post, page A2). Even without a Congressional economic stimulus package, a few sources of stimulus seem to be quietly bolstering modest growth in consumer spending, increasing prospects that the recession is ending. Most economists still expect this year's recovery to be tepid, in part because household spending has not declined in the recession and little pent-up demand exists for houses, cars and other big purchases. Barring a strong recovery, unemployment is likely to remain at least at its current level of 5.8 percent for most of this year (New York Times, page C3). The difference in managerial salaries for men and women in American industry grew from 1995 to 2000, a Congressional study has found. During one of the nation's biggest economic booms, managerial salaries for women not only failed to catch up to those of their male counterparts, they lost ground in several industries, according to the study, which was released today (New York Times, page A22).
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