I was particularly impressed with the report (next to last item) that there are new job opportunities for the elderly in today*s economy, *especially if they are willing to start at the bottom.* Dave ---------- >BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1996 Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he has doubts about the accuracy of government measures of worker productivity, a key to assessing inflation. "I have serious questions about the quality of the data that we employ to measure output in today's economy," Greenspan said in remarks prepared for delivery at a dinner hosted by the Conference Board, a business-financed research organization. The speech hardened a position that Greenspan has flirted with publicly for some time. He has hinted before that official measurement of productivity has been too low and fails to take into account the increase in productivity that technology has allowed ....The Fed chairman's speech addressed a major question in economic circles: Why hasn't the vast improvement in technology increased worker output? ....Greenspan suggested that technology has in fact improved productivity, but that it will take years of adjustment to get the most out of technology ....Even so, the government is not measuring the gains that have already been made, Greenspan said. Measuring manufacturing output was easy: It involved simply counting the units of products that any one worker produced. "But what is the unit of software?" Greenspan said. "What is the physical equivalent unit of output of medical care?" ....(AP story, >Oct. 18, Washington Times, page B12). > >The era of large-scale downsizing of corporate America is over, said chief >executive officers of top U.S. companies at a meeting of the Business Council >in Williamsburg, Va. But a survey of Business Council members finds those in >the manufacturing sector less bullish about the economy than those in the >financial sector ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-14). > >Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums rose by only 0.5 percent over >the past year, the lowest annual rate increase on record, according to the >sixth annual survey, Health Benefits in 1996, conducted by RPMG Peat Marwick LLP's Compensation and Benefits Practice ....(Daily Labor Report, page >A-5)_____USA Today's page 1B graph is of health care by company size. More >than 30 percent of workers work for companies with fewer than 25 employees, >where health benefits are less common, the graph indicates. Source of the >data is American Management Association. > The New York Times (Oct. 19, page 40) reports that BLS issued five >months' worth of monthly jobs figures to fix a seasonal adjustment quirk, >showing jobs dwindling in number even as hourly wages increase. Since the >Labor Department had warned the market in advance, for many it was not an issue. One market strategist saw it as a "bit of rebalancing, sort of a >mathematical exercise rather than an informative one" .... > >USA Today (page 7B) takes a look at job creation and elimination through a >graph whose data is attributed to the American Management Association. It >indicates that the number of people employed at the average company increased >6.1 percent in the 12 months ended June 1996, compared with a 4.5 percent >increase the previous 12 months. Sixty-eight percent of companies say they >created new jobs, compared with 58 percent the previous 12 months_____More >companies plan to hire workers than plan to dismiss them in the coming year, >according to a new survey by the American Management Association >....(Washington Post, page A9). > >The economy of New York City, which has foundered since the recession of the >early 1990's, has begun to crawl back toward prosperity, largely because of >rising profits on Wall Street (New York Times, page A1) ...."It is shaping up >as a pretty good year for New York City," said John L. Wieting, regional >commissioner for the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. "You are seeing added strength if we look at the past year. The economy is pushing >ahead" .... > >Chances for seniors to find work may be improving in today's tight labor >market, especially if they're willing to start at the bottom (Washington >Post, Oct. 20, page H4). "As unemployment in various parts of the country >gets down to very low levels, employers are beginning to reach out to people >that otherwise would remain out of the labor force, including the elderly and >the poor," Labor Secretary Robert Reich told Reuters. "My basic advice to >them is if they are at all interested in getting back into the work force, >now is the ideal time" .... > "Labor Market Torpor" is a commentary piece in the Washington Times by Bruce Bartlett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis and a contributing writer for the Washington Times. Bartlett says that, although the "overall unemployment rate is indeed low by recent historical standards, this does not mean that all is well in labor markets. One of the more disturbing trends is illustrated in the [accompanying] figure, which shows that the median duration of unemployment has shown virtually no improvement during the Clinton administration. This is unusual because the length of time people stay unemployed ought to be falling at this stage of the economic expansion ....This ... is supported by the unusually low number of voluntary job leavers among the unemployed and the high number of discouraged workers ....[T]hus a small number of voluntary job leavers suggests that people are still fearful of finding new jobs and are continuing to hold on to what they have ....Another indication of labor market distress is the 7.8 million workers now forced to hold more than one job ...." DUE OUT TOMORROW: U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes -- September >1996 >
