November 2002, Vol. 125, No.11
Labor month in review
The November
Review
Wages overseas fall to two-thirds of U.S.
Moonlighting in 2001
Fewer teens join labor force
Using computers for work
Much of economic analysis involves tracking change through fairly complex trails of data. The three feature articles in this issue are united in this approach, although they differ markedly in the trails they follow. Jonathan Weinhagen tracks price changes through the stages of processing that provide the framework for the BLS producer price index program. His very carefully laid out investigation finds that the stage of processing framework continues to provide a statistically significant route to understanding price change. However, the degree to which the approach explains variance in prices has declined in recent years.
Mitra Toossi follows the path laid by consumer spending and its impact on projected employment growth. She projects consumer expenditure growing at about 3-½ percent per year through 2010, while the average growth rate of employment as a result of personal consumption expenditures slows to 1.3 percent per year. Part of the implied increase in productivity might be explained by the relatively rapid growth in professional jobs related to personal consumption: Such employment is projected to rise at a 2.6-percent annual rate, often in order to meet demand for more sophisticated services.
Richard Bavier uses the complex longitudinal data trails provided by the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to investigate the impact of welfare reform. He finds that while there was improvement in income for post-reform leavers, those who left the program more voluntarily tended to have fewer economic difficulties.
Wages overseas fall to two-thirds of U.S.
Average hourly compensation costs in U.S. dollars for production workers in manufacturing in 29 foreign economies declined to 67 percent of the U.S. level in 2001 from 71 percent in 2000. Compensation costs in Japan fell below the U.S. level in 2001 for the first time in 3 years. The U.S. average costs also were higher than the trade-weighted average for Europe (although five European countries had higher hourly compensation costs than did the United States) and for the combined 29 economies. (Note that the statistics for foreign economies presented here reflect fluctuations in exchange rates as well as changes in hourly compensation expressed in each country’s national currency.) For additional information, see news release USDL 02–549, "International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs for Production Workers in Manufacturing, 2001."
In May 2001, 7.8 million persons worked at multiple jobs in the United States, a figure representing 5.7 percent of all workers. Why did these persons choose to work more than one job? More than 1 in 3 of these "moonlighters" worked multiple jobs in order to earn extra money, a category that could include saving for the future or getting extra money to buy something special. An additional 27.8 percent moonlighted in order to meet current expenses or pay off debt.
Among the other common reasons for working multiple jobs, enjoyment of the second job was reported by 17.4 percent, and 4.6 percent wanted to build a business or get experience in a different job. For additional information on reasons for moonlighting, read "Twenty-first century moonlighters," Issues in Labor Statistics, Summary 02–07. (See also "Multiple jobholding by State," pp. 39–40, this issue.)
The July labor force participation rate for teens dropped from 65.4 percent to 62.3 percent between 1994 and 2000. This happened even as the unemployment rate for teenagers was falling to its lowest level in three decades. If adverse labor market conditions, the usual explanation for lower labor market activity among teens, were not the reason for the decline, it could have been increasing school enrollment during the summer. The share of teenagers enrolled in school in July increased from 19.5 percent in 1994 to 27.0 percent in 2000.
Labor force participation rates for teens that are in school are roughly 20 percentage points below those for teens that are not enrolled in school. Thus, the increasing enrollment rate has exerted downward pressure on teen labor force participation rates. For more information see, "Declining teen labor force participation," Issues in Labor Statistics, Summary 02–06.
In September 2001, 72.3 million persons used a computer at work. These workers accounted for 53.5 percent of total employment. The most common use for a computer at work in September 2001 was to access the Internet or to use Email. Of the workers who did use a computer on the job, 71.8 percent said that they used the computer to connect to the Internet or use Email. Other common uses included word processing (67.0 percent), working with spreadsheets or databases (62.3 percent), and calendar or scheduling (52.9 percent). Less commonly reported uses were graphics and design (28.8 percent) and programming (15.2 percent).
Not quite 1 in 10 of the population ages 16 and older reported using the Internet to search for a job between January 2001 and September 2001. Men and women were about equally likely to have used the Internet to search for a job. Nearly 1 in every 10 reported using the Internet to look for a job. Similarly, about 9 percent of both whites and blacks used the Internet in their job search, but fewer than 6 percent of Hispanic individuals used these resources. For more information, see "Computer and Internet Use at Work in 2001," news release USDL 02–601.
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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