BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2000
RELEASED TODAY: In January, 206 metropolitan areas recorded unemployment
rates below the U.S. average (4.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted), while
118 areas registered higher rates. Eleven metropolitan areas had rates
below 2.0 percent, with five of these located in the South, four in the
Midwest, and two in New England. Of the 11 areas with jobless rates over
10.0 percent, 7 were in California, and 3 were along the Mexican border, in
other states. ...
The nation's biggest manufacturing trade group said its members expect
rising energy prices and higher interest rates to slow the U.S. economy this
year. The National Association of Manufacturers found in an annual survey
of its 2,500 members that manufacturers are becoming increasingly guarded
about the overall strength of the economy. The biggest problem for
manufacturers is soaring energy costs. The prices of some types of crude
oil has jumped nearly 2-1/2 times in the past year, and many manufacturers
say they are unable to pass along all of their higher costs, cutting into
profits. ... The survey's big surprise is that few manufacturers said they
have any plans to curtail hiring. Indeed, the survey gives every indication
the tight labor supply in America won't ease soon. ... Even though most
manufacturers expect the economy to slow, they are hiring at a steady clip
because companies eliminated too many workers early in the 1990s. As a
result, companies have been forced to pay overtime and add shifts. ...
(Wall Street Journal, page A4),
Productivity finally shows the impact of computers, says Louis Uchitelle
(New York Times, March 12, "Money and Business" section, page 4). ... Since
the early 1970s, the standard of living of most Americans has risen at a
snail's pace. Are the gains finally coming faster? That is really another
way of asking if the productivity of the nation's workers, which has risen
at a snail's pace, has now finally shifted into a higher gear. And the
tentative answer is "Yes." ... The famous quip tossed off in 1987 by Robert
M. Solow, the Nobel laureate in economics -- "You can see the computer age
everywhere but in the productivity statistics" -- finally stands amended.
... The most significant evidence comes in a soon-to-be-published research
paper by Stephen D. Oliner and Daniel E. Sichel, two Federal Reserve
economists. ... They find that computers -- both the manufacture of them
and their use, particularly the large-scale networking of computers since
1995 -- are making a measurable contribution. ...
Fewer small businesses will be launched, venture-capital investment in
dot-com start-ups will level off, and employees of small companies will
demand customized benefits, says The Wall Street Journal in its "Enterprise"
feature (page B4). These are a few predictions made in a study sponsored by
American Express Co., International Business Machines Corp., and an advocacy
group called National Small Business United. The study explores how the
gradually aging corps of baby boomers will affect the business landscape.
... From 1996 to 2006, the population of 25- to 44-year-olds in the work
force will decrease by nearly 2 million workers, according to the study.
Since this age group is a primary source of new entrepreneurs, their
retirement from business may result in a temporary decline in the number of
start-ups. Although seniors may continue to work part time as consultants or
in hobby-type businesses, they are unlikely to start businesses with
employees. ...
The booming economy has done much to boost the fortunes of many
long-disadvantaged Americans. But the gap in well-being between whites and
nonwhites didn't budge over the 1990s and remains huge, especially when
measured by wealth, says The Wall Street Journal (page A2). In 1998, the
most recent year for which data are available, the median net worth for
Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and other minority families was $16,400.
That was less than one-fifth -- 17.28 percent to be precise -- of the
$94,900 median net worth for non-Hispanic white families. The ratio was up
only slightly from 17.23 percent in 1992, according to a recently released
survey of 4,300 families conducted for the Federal Reserve. The racial
divide in wealth -- the value of all assets, including homes, cars, stock,
and savings accounts -- was much greater than that of income, the Fed data
show. ... Why the gap? Economists and researchers point to numerous
reasons, including historical patterns of discrimination in wages, job
opportunities, and access to the credit needed to start a business. But
differences in the way whites and nonwhites invest appear also to be a key.
Minorities own homes at a much lower rates than whites and are far less
likely to tuck their earnings into higher-risk investments such as stocks.
... Then, too, whites have inherited far more money than minorities. In
1994 -- the most recent year for which complete data are available - an
annual survey conducted by the University of Michigan found that whites were
3 times as likely to have inherited more than $10,000 within the previous 5
years as blacks. Among families that had inherited, the survey found the
average value of a white family's inheritance was $74,000, more than double
that of blacks' $33,000. ...
DUE OUT TOMORROW: U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes -- February 2000
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