> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, MONDAY, JULY 30, 2001:
>
> The first half of this year saw sharp increases in both the number of mass
> layoff events and the total number of workers involved, compared with the
> same period a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS
> reported that there were 9,507 mass layoff events resulting in new claims
> filed for unemployment insurance by a total of 1.1 million persons during
> the January-to-June period of this year. Those figures are up from a total
> of 7,470 mass layoff events involving about 819,545 persons in the
> comparable period of 2000 (Daily Labor Report, page D-28).
>
> The Wall Street Journal's feature "Tracking the Economy" (page A4) shows
> the Consensus Global Forecast for the unemployment rate for July, to be
> released by BLS Friday, at 4.7 percent. The actual unemployment rate for
> June was 4.5 percent. Average hourly earnings for July, to be released
> Friday as well, are projected to increase 0.3 percent, the same actual
> increase recorded in the previous month.
>
> U.S. economic growth nearly ground to a halt in the second quarter as
> output rose just 0.7 percent at an annual rate, the Bureau of Economic
> Analysis, Department of Commerce, reports. It was the smallest gain in
> real gross domestic product since the first quarter of 1993 (Daily Labor
> Report, page D-1; John M. Berry, The Washington Post, July 28, page A1;
> David Leonhardt, The New York Times, July 28, page A1; Greg Ip, The Wall
> Street Journal, page A2).
>
> Announced layoffs at U.S. companies this year, tracked by International
> Strategy and Investment, have soared to more than 1.1 million as of last
> week. This number is more than double the number of announced layoffs for
> all of last year. And while the number of announcements dipped in May, it
> has surged again in June and July. Many of these job cuts may not take
> place until the second half of the year, and therefore are not yet
> reflected in government figures. Resilient sales of autos, homes and
> retail goods have been the key element keeping the economy out of a
> recession this year. But if jobs continue to evaporate this summer,
> consumer may start to close their wallets
> (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2494-2001Jul29.html).
>
> Faced by a steady drumbeat of corporate layoffs and a weak stock market,
> Americans' current financial picture deteriorated in July, halting 2
> straight months of gains in consumer confidence, a Friday report showed.
> But analysts said the modest drop in the University of Michigan's July
> consumer sentiment index to 92.4 from 92.6 in June was minimal, and that
> consumer confidence, which fell sharply early this year as worries about
> the future sunk in deep, had mostly stabilized over the past 3 months.
> Consumers' expectations for the future rose for a third month, boding well
> for consumer spending and bolstering hopes that the U.S. economy, which
> only plodded along in the second quarter, would begin recovering by year's
> end, analysts said
> (http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2001-07-27-um-consumer-sentiment.ht
> m).
>
>
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