BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2002: RELEASED TODAY: The Employment Cost Index for total compensation increased 3.9 percent (civilian workers, not seasonally adjusted) for the year ended March 2002, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The Employment Cost Index (ECI), a component of the National Compensation Survey, measures changes in compensation costs, which include wages, salaries, and employer costs for employee benefits.
When it comes to executive compensation, the good times often linger on. And on. Scores of former CEOs continue to pull in fat retainers and lavish perks--some long after retiring--as consultants to their companies. Moreover, many consulting deals call for few specified tasks and lend new meaning to the term part time, according to a USA TODAY database analysis of corporate filings (USA TODAY, page 1B). Durable-goods orders fell in March for the first time in four months, another sign of the spottiness of the economic recovery and business investment in particular. Orders big-ticket items--cars, appliances and other goods meant to last three years or longer--fell by 0.6 percent to $173.41 billion last month. February durable-goods orders were revised upward to a 2.7 percent rise after being estimated as a 1.8 percent increase (The Wall Street Journal, page A2). The economy continued to rebound in March and early April as all but one of the Federal Reserve's 12 regional districts (the exception was Boston) saw "signs of improvement or actual increases in economic activity," according to a Fed report Wednesday. The "beige book," a regular survey known for the color of its cover, notes that consumer spending increased or held steady and the battered factory sector was "stable or improved," but the job market was "slack" (The Washington Post, page E3; and The New York Times, page C6).
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