Labor month in review
The April
Review
States’ unemployment in 2003
Fewer strikes, more strikers
Lost-time injuries in 2002
Factory productivity
The rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decelerated to 1.9 percent in 2003, according to Todd Wilson’s summary of consumer price developments last year. Food and energy prices conspired to bring the rate of change up. When food and energy are excluded, the resulting measure of "core" consumer price inflation was only 1.1 percent. This was the smallest increase in core CPI-U since 1960.
Among the global factors driving higher energy prices were an increase in world demand, the war in Iraq, and an oil-worker strike in Venezuela.
Lucy P. Eldridge, Marilyn E. Manser, and Phyllis Flohr Otto present an evaluation of alternate methods of calculating the hours at work that underlie measures of productivity in the United States. Under current procedures, the hours of nonproduction and supervisory workers are estimated using the assumption that they have hours roughly similar to those of their "shop floor" counterparts. Using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), Eldridge, Manser, and Otto find that nonproduction and supervisory workers put in measurably more time than do nonsupervisory workers, particularly in service industries. It is important to note, however, that trends in the hours at work series for the major sectors covered by the BLS productivity program are similar, whether developed by current assumptions or by CPS-based adjustment. Thus, the measures of productivity have not been biased in any substantial way by the use of the current method. BLS will, however, adopt the CPS-based adjustment in productivity measures later this year so that the underlying series will be more data driven and working hours will be estimated on a more accurate basis.
James R. Spletzer, R. Jason Faberman, Akbar Sadeghi, David M. Talan, and Richard L. Clayton provide the primer on the Business Employment Dynamics survey recently introduced by BLS. These data provide analysts with insight into the complex interaction of business startups, expansions, contractions, and closures that create the overall changes in employment that are so closely watched.
States in the Pacific division continued to record the highest jobless rates in the Nation in 2003: Oregon, 8.2 percent, Alaska, 8.0 percent, and Washington, 7.5 percent. South Dakota posted the lowest annual average unemployment rate for 2003, 3.6 percent. South Dakota also had posted the lowest State unemployment rate in 2002.
Overall, 32 States had unemployment rates below the national average of 6.0 percent in 2003. All seven States in the West North Central division and all six in New England posted rates below that of the Nation. Seventeen States and the District of Columbia had rates above the national average of 6.0 percent in 2003, and one state had a rate equal to it. Four of the five Pacific States and three of the four West South Central States recorded rates above the U.S. figure.
Fourteen major work stoppages began during 2003, compared with 19 in 2002. However, the number of workers idled, the number of days idle, and the percent of estimated working time lost because of strikes and lockouts rose.
Of the major work stoppages beginning in 2003, 12 were in private industry and two were in State and local government. In private industry, the largest number of stoppages occurred in manufacturing and in the retail trade sector.
The number of workers idled because of strikes and lockouts rose in 2003, but was still low by historical standards. The major work stoppages began during the year idled 129,200 workers, compared with 46,000 workers idled in 2002.
Three work stoppages beginning in 2003 accounted for about three-quarters of all workers idled. The largest was between Albertsons, Ralphs Grocery Company, and Vons and the United Food and Commercial Workers, with 67,300 idled. The second largest was a stoppage between General Electric and the Communications Workers and the United Electrical Workers that idled 17,500 workers, The third was a stoppage between Dierbergs Markets, Schnucks, and Shop ‘n Save and the United Food and Commercial Workers that idled 10,200.
A total of 1.4 million injuries and illnesses in private industry required recuperation away from work beyond the day of the incident in 2002. Ten occupations accounted for one-third of the cases requiring recuperation away from work. Truck drivers experienced the most injuries and illnesses, with 112,200 requiring days away from work, followed by nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants with 79,000, and nonconstruction laborers with 76,600. For additional information, see "Lost-worktime Injuries and Illnesses: Characteristics and Resulting Time Away From Work, 2002," news release USDL 04–460.
In 2002, the 9.2-percent increase in U.S. manufacturing productivity, measured by output per hour, was the largest among 14 economies. Except for Italy, productivity also increased in all of the other economies, with gains of more than 6 percent in Sweden, Korea, Belgium, and Taiwan. Additional information is available in "International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends, Revised Data for 2002," news release USDL 04–488.
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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