BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1996 ___Moderating food and energy prices kept the producer price index to a 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted increase in September, after bumping up 0.3 percent in August, BLS reports. The so-called core PPI rate -- excluding sometimes volatile food and energy prices -- rose 0.3 percent in September, driven up by a 1.2 percent increase in passenger cars and a 1.3 percent hike in light truck costs ....(Daily Labor Report, pages 2,D-1). ___Stocks rose as the latest economic data indicated a continuing combination of moderate growth with stable inflation, sending interest rates lower in the bond market ....(Washington Post, Oct. 12, page H1). ___Producer data show prices still in check. Report helps markets ....(New York Times, Oct. 12, page 37). ___Inflation continued cool in September ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2). For the second consecutive year, the share of total compensation going toward benefits declined for private sector employers, according to the latest annual pay estimates from BLS ....(Daily Labor Report, Oct. 11, pages 2,D-3). It is becoming more and more difficult for BLS to convince businesses to be part of its various surveys, BLS Commissioner Katharine Abraham told the agency's Business Resource Advisory Council. Particularly difficult is getting employers to participate in surveys like the employment cost index that ask more detailed questions and take a relatively longer chunk of time to complete, Abraham said ....(Daily Labor Report, Oct. 11, page A-10). The Washington Post began a three-part front-page series on Sunday called "Reality Check: the Economic Perception Gap," based on a poll by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University. ___Sunday's article said that statistics do little to change the view of Americans ....Misperceptions, from overestimating the jobless rate to underestimating gains in family income, cloud and confound the public's view of the nation's economy ....Overall, Americans with less knowledge of basic economic trends are far more negative about the economy's overall health and more pessimistic about its future direction. They also are somewhat more likely to say that the president has great power over the economy, suggesting that economic performance may be even more important to voters this election year who know fewer basic facts about the economy than to those who know more .... ___Monday's article said that prosperity's imbalance divides the U.S. The disparity grows wider for winners and losers ....Family incomes for the poorest 20 percent of the population have lagged the gains made by families in the top 5 percent and top 20 percent. In fact, 60 percent of families have seen their incomes fall in real terms in the past two decades. What makes a difference in income levels? Education, for one. Only families where a member had at least a high school diploma saw their incomes rise. The other key is how much money a family starts out with. The wealthiest 10 percent of Americans control 67.2 percent of national net worth .... ___Today's article says there is a great divide between economists and the public. Data and daily lives tell different stories ....According to the poll, Americans assess the last 20 years as an economic disappointment and are equally pessimistic about the future. A second survey of American economists, by contrast, found that economists are much more upbeat about the nation's economic prospects and the strength of the latest expansion. Economists' views diverge from those of most other Americans over what types of marketplace developments are good for the U.S. economy, as well as why the economy is not performing even better. The results of these two polls suggest a large disconnect between the American people and the "elite" who make, recommend, and evaluate government economic policy .... Arguments that environmental regulations stymie productivity are based on economic indicators that do not take into account the costs of pollution, the lead author of a new study by the World Resources Institute told BNA ....BLS -- the lead agency for measuring U.S. productivity -- should work with the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a revised set of productivity growth estimates, the report said ....(Daily Labor Report, Oct. 11, page A-3). DUE OUT TOMORROW: Consumer Price Index -- September 1996 Real Earnings: September 1996
