Labor month in review
The
March Review
States and unemployment
Productivity and costs
September 11 and layoffs
Chartbook on-line
One of the most striking features of today’s labor market as it compares to the labor market of the mid-1970s is the fact that today’s young women are expected to be much more deeply involved in market work and to combine that work with family responsibilities. As Marisa DiNatale and Stephanie Boraas report, about three-quarters of today’s 25-to 34- year-old women participate in the labor force, compared with about half in the mid-70s. These women also work more weeks of the year and more hours per week. Married women aged 25 to 34, say DiNatale and Boraas, are far more likely to be in the labor force than were their counterparts of 25 years ago.
William Gullickson and Michael J. Harper update us on the research the Bureau of Labor Statistics is carrying out to overcome some of the difficulties that occur in measuring aggregate productivity. In general, the recent surge in measures of aggregate productivity has made the possible bias in such measures less clearly evident, but there are still anomalies such as negative multifactor productivity growth in some industries. Measurement issues remain particularly difficult on the output side of some service industries.
The high-technology manufacturing sector—however defined—has enjoyed superior productivity performance, according to the analysis of Christopher Kask and Edward Sieber. Between 1987 and 1999, they report, labor productivity in high-tech manufacturing increased at almost 3 times the reasonably strong rate recorded by the manufacturing sector as a whole.
Todd Wilson contributes the annual summary of consumer price developments for 2001. The overall Consumer Price Index rose 1.6 percent in 2001—less than half the increase recorded in 2000. The commodities sub-index actually fell for the first time since 1986, but there were higher prices for many types of services such as rents and medical care.
As the Nation moved into a recession in 2001, most States experienced rising unemployment rates. Compared with 2000, jobless rates in 2001 were higher in 42 States and the District of Columbia, lower in 7 States, and unchanged in 1 State. This was the first time since 1992 that annual average unemployment rates rose in more than half the States.
Eighteen States reported rate increases of 1.0 percentage point or more. Of these 18 States, 6 were located in the Midwest, 5 each were in the South and West, and 2 were in the Northeast. North Carolina had the largest increase (+1.9 percentage points), followed by Michigan (+1.7 points) and South Carolina (+1.5 points).
The highest unemployment rates for 2001 were in the Pacific Northwest. Washington, Oregon, and Alaska all had jobless rates in excess of 6 percent. North Dakota had the lowest rate at 2.8 percent and was the only State with an unemployment rate lower than 3 percent. To learn more about annual average unemployment by State, see "State and Regional Unemployment, 2001 Annual Averages," news release USDL 02–97.
Productivity in the nonfarm business sector, as measured by output per hour, rose 1.8 percent in 2001, according to preliminary estimates released in February. Unit labor costs in manufacturing grew 6.2 percent in 2001. The rise in unit labor costs in 2001 was the result of a 7.3-percent increase in hourly compensation only slightly offset by a 1.0-percent increase in labor productivity. (These data are subject to revision.) Unit labor costs—the cost of the labor input required to produce one unit of output—are computed by dividing labor costs in nominal terms by real output. Unit labor costs can also, however, be expressed as the ratio of hourly compensation to labor productivity.
Reports for the weeks ended September 15 through December 29, 2001, show that there were 408 extended mass layoff events during that period that were directly or indirectly attributed to the attacks of September 11, 2001. These layoffs involved 114,711 workers. Among the workers laid off because of the terrorist attacks, 39 percent, or 44,756 workers, had been employed in the scheduled air transportation industry. An additional 28 percent, or 32,044 workers, had been employed in hotels and motels
Thirty-three States reported extended mass layoff activity related in some way to the September 11 incidents. Fifty-four percent of the layoff events and 56 percent of the separations occurred in just five States—California, Nevada, Illinois, New York, and Texas. "Extended mass layoffs" last more than 30 days and involve 50 or more individuals from a single establishment filing initial claims for unemployment insurance during a consecutive 5-week period. Additional information is available in "Extended Mass Layoffs in the Fourth Quarter of 2001," news release USDL 02–79.
Working in the 21st Century, a book of charts and related information about subjects ranging from education levels to retirement plans, is now available at the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site: http://www.bls.gov/opub/working/home.htm
Communications regarding the Monthly Labor Review may be sent to the Editor-in-Chief by e-mail to mlr@bls.gov, by mail at 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Room 2850, Washington, DC, 20212, or by fax to (202) 691–7890.
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