Bureau Of Labor Statistics Data Research Articles

Recession Hits Professionals, College Grads

The employment categories into which chemists tend to fall are being hit particularly hard by the current economic slowdown. According to the latest monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the number of unemployed college graduates has doubled in the past two years. In December 2002, it was 1,120,000, up from 564,000 in December 2000. In contrast, unemployment among those who never went to college rose a relatively more modest 55% over the same period. Unemployment among those with a managerial or professional specialty has also doubled these past two years—to 1,398,000 from 695,000. Overall, the total number of those unemployed in all categories jumped 52% between December 2000 and December 2002, to 8.59 million from 5.66 million. The root cause was the sudden end of the spectacular job creation that boosted the number of those working from 119 million in December 1992 to 136 million in December 2000. These gains dropped the ...

Perceived Job Insecurity and Entry into Work-Related Education and Training among Adult Workers

Stratification research focuses on the relationship between educational background and the work career. However, few studies have examined the extended educational career beyond young adulthood and its relationship to workers' labor market experiences, especially their concerns about job loss. We attach the 1995 Adult Education Data File to Bureau of Labor Statistics data to examine the structural conditions under which adult workers (ages 35–61) perceive their jobs to be insecure. We then examine whether concerns about job loss motivate adult workers to participate in further education, after controlling for the already established effects of human capital, contemporaneous life course roles, minority status, and other labor market conditions. We find that the perceived job insecurity of both advantaged and disadvantaged categories of workers are affected by labor market factors, but in different ways. On the one hand, ethnic minorities, union members, workers without employee benefits, and workers in restructuring sectors are explicitly more concerned about job insecurity. On the other hand, workers in once-advantaged stratification categories demarcated by higher education, more job experience, gender (male), and seniority (age) do not perceive significantly less job insecurity than other workers and thus are no more protected from these concerns. Adult work-related educational participation reflects perceived insecurity and industrial restructuring more than prior human capital or competing life course roles.

The Impact of E-commerce on the Real Estate Industry: Baen and Guttery Revisited

Executive Summary. One widely reported prediction is that the emergence of the web as an open medium for commerce threatens the role of the real estate agent as a market intermediary. In their 1997 article, for example, Baen and Guttery predicted that the increased use of the Internet and information technology would lead to a downsizing of the entire industry. However, recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that the real estate industry, like most of the economy in the United States, experienced steady growth during the last few years. This article revisits the issue of disintermediation in the context of the real estate industry. It discusses—from a theoretical and conceptual perspective—several reasons why the predicted downsizing did not occur. The analysis suggests that the Internet, though clearly a very powerful tool with strategic implications, may not be as disruptive a technology as originally predicted.

Economic Integration of Major Industrialized Areas: An Empirical Tracking of the Continued Trend

Globalization and economic integration in a regional scale is a global trend. This paper tracked an empirical aspect of this evolutionary trend by using wage data of different industrialized countries with the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) data and cluster and discriminant analysis applied to time series data of wage changes. Results acquired clearly showed an evolutionary development of economic blocs, and industry level cluster results also reflected tight integration, while some industries presented their distinct patterns of development. With discriminant analysis at the aggregate level, the major determinant that affected the integration during 1985 and 1995 period was the changes in U.S. money and quasi-money supply. This paper presents that globalization has led to two aspects of consequences. On the one hand, it means that all countries, and most of all industries, are affected by either a single or a few number of macroeconomic indicator(s). At the same time, on the other hand, globalization implies that due to the existence of factor conditions [1], within-group and between-group variances do exist. In other words, each country and each industry in different groups would feature divergent performance.

Patton-Nelson Personal Consumption Tables 1997–98 Update

Abstract No abstract available.

Patton-Nelson Personal Consumption Tables Updated

The Patton-Nelson Personal Consumption Tables were last published in the Spring Summer, 1991 issue of the Journal of Forensic Economics. The Consumer Expenditure Data, 1994-95 which was made available by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in December, 1996 is the most current and comprehensive consumption data available for use at this time. These data are the updated version of the BLS data used in the 1991 article and have been used to provide the updated tables attached. The tables are presented and numbered in an identical manner as in the 1991 article so that the reader can continue to use the 1991 article for explanatory and reference purposes. It will be noted that the updated tables generally show higher personal consumption levels when viewed on a nominal basis. However, if the data were adjusted for inflation, then the personal consumption levels only show an increase at the lowest levels of family income while actually showing a decrease at the higher levels of family income.

Patton-Nelson Personal Consumption Tables Updated

Abstract No abstract available.

Washington State Summary of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders by Industry

An analysis of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in Washington State using workers' compensation claims and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data was conducted in order to identify high risk industries. All claims and BLS cases from 1992–1994 were searched using a specific MSD selection criteria and grouped by risk classification and standard industrial classification (SIC). Twenty-seven percent of all State Fund claims were classified as MSDs. The mean annual cost of MSDs was $166.8 million. Incidence rate claims data showed clerical offices ranked 286 out of 303 risk classes with a rate of 0.64 per 100 workers per year, over five times below the state mean incidence rate of 3.7. The only industry to appear in the top 10 by highest MSD count, incidence rate (including BLS data), and cost was nursing homes. Detailed MSD data by industry can be used by researchers to hypothesis test dose-response relationships and by practitioners to focus intervention efforts where they're most needed.

Fatal and nonfatal injuries related to violence in Washington workplaces, 1992.

This study describes injuries related to assaults and violence that occurred in Washington State workplaces in 1992. Nonfatal injuries are emphasized. High-risk industries and occupations are described. Fatalities caused by work-related violence were identified using the 1992 U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Nonfatal injuries were identified using the BLS Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and the Washington State workers' compensation system. Thirteen occupational fatalities resulted from assaults or violent acts in 1992. BLS data identified 784 nonfatal injuries that resulted in one or more day off work; workers' compensation data identified 2,395 claims. Industries experiencing the highest claim rates were Social Services (148 per 10,000) and Health Services (106 per 10,000). Nonfatal violent injuries were common and appeared to have different risk factors than fatal injuries. Industries in which injuries occurred were often predictable and suggested specific strategies for prevention efforts.

Estimated Risk of Occupational Fatalities Associated with Hazardous Waste Site Remediation

This study presents a method to assess short term traumatic fatality risks for workers involved in hazardous waste site remediation to provide a quantitative, rather than qualitative, basis for evaluating occupational exposures in remediation feasibility studies. Occupational employment and fatality data for the years 1979-1981 and 1983 were compiled from Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 11 states. These data were analyzed for 17 occupations associated with three common remediation alternatives: excavation and landfill, capping, and capping plus slurry wall. The two occupations with the highest death rates, truck driver and laborer, contributed most to total exposure hours in each alternative. Weighted average death rates were produced for each alternative and multiplied by respective total person-years of exposure. The resultant expected number of fatalities was converted, using the Poisson distribution, to the risk of experiencing at least one fatality, as follows: 0.149 for excavation and landfill, 0.012 for capping, and 0.014 for capping plus slurry wall. These risks were discussed in light of the need to obtain more reliable and comprehensive data than are currently available on the occupational safety and health risks associated with hazardous waste site remediation and the need for a more scientific, quantitative approach to remediation decisions involving risks to workers.

American unemployment in historical perspective

During the twentieth century, the annual average unemployment rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics data has varied between 1.2 and 24.9 percent. This article, derived from our recent book,Out of Work: Unemployment and Government in 20th Century America, examines and explains variations in unemployment over time. These large fluctuations in unemployment probably account for this century’s obsession with joblessness. Alfred Marshall’sPrinciples of Economics, published in 1890, barely mentions unemployment. Only two short generations later, unemployment was the dominant topic of interest among economists, and the most influential economics book of this century, Keynes’sGeneral Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, was concerned largely with explaining its existence.

The cyclical sensitivity of white-collar skill margins

In this paper the authors assess the extent to which white-collar skill margins (SMs) fluctuate over the business cycle. Whether the SM increases (decreases) during economic expansion (recession) or moves in an opposite direction depends on the elasticity of supply of highly skilled and entry level workers and, according to Oi's model of labor as a quasi-fixed factor, the fixed employment costs incurred by firms in hiring each of these categories of labor. Since the effects of supply elasticity and fixed employment costs tend to offset each other, the cyclical sensitivity of the white-collar SM can only be ascertained by recourse to empirical data. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from the Professional, Administrative, Technical, and Clerical Survey covering the period 1962–85 are used for this purpose.

Employment and unemployment patterns in the U.S. and Europe, 1973–1987

Employment trends in the United States and Europe are compared using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. These data set the stage for a discussion of the difference in employment growth between the U.S. and Europe. Also included are some elements that may partly explain the U.S. and European differences in job growth. In conclusion, labor market problems still remain even with the tremendous job growth in the U.S.

Comparisons between small business data base (USEEM) and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment data: 1978?1986

The BLS versus USEEM comparison generally points out some major classification differences in the data sets particularly in the classification and growth of larger establishments. USEEM and BLS data generally agree as to the direction of employment growth over the 1978 to 1986 period. Differences occur in 7 of the 63 comparisons of employment growth — but BLS attributes a greater proportion of growth to larger reporting units, USEEM to smaller establishments. BLS and USEEM data have concurring positive or negative growth rates for all size classes in the construction, wholesale trade, services, and finance, insurance, and real estate industries.

Demand for Home Ownership in Regions of the United States

AbstractThe purpose of this research is to test the relationship of demographic variables to housing tenure (i.e., home owner vs. renter) with 1984 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, taking regional differences into account. The results differ significantly from one region to another, indicating that a single, aggregate-demand function for home ownership in the United States as a whole may be misleading if one is concerned with a particular region.

Dynamic Shift‐Share Analysis

ABSTRACTMost applications of shift‐share analysis to regional employment change have used a study period of several years and have examined conditions only at the beginning and end years. This comparative static approach does not take into account the continuous changes in both industrial mix and size of total employment of the region over the study period. Calculating the national growth effect, the industrial mix effect, and the competitive effect on an annual basis and then summing the results over the study period provides a more accurate allocation of job changes among the three shift‐share effects. This approach, which we term dynamic shift‐share analysis, also allows unusual years and years of economic transition to he identified. We illustrate the use of dynamic shift‐share by presenting results of an analysis of New England employment growth from 1939 to 1984, using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The use of the dynamic form of shift‐share is important when the study period is characterized by either large changes in regional industrial mix or major differences between regional and national growth rates.

Occupational characteristics of artists: A statistical analysis

Labor market studies of occupational groups are common in the labor economics literature. Usually, the researcher faces no problem in identifying people who belong to a particular occupational group. In using U.S. Census or Bureau of Labor Statistics data, one finds that occupational categories are already established. In conducting one's own survey, either the occupation of survey respondents is known in advance, or it can be readily obtained via an appropriate question on the survey instrument. When conducting a labor market study of artists, however, several difficulties are encountered. One difficulty involves the use of Census data. First, the occupations that the Census categorizes as "artists" do not correspond to those used by researchers in the field.(1) A second difficulty, indicated in our research (Wassall, et al. 1983) and that of others (Kingston, et ai. 1981; Ruttenberg, et ai. 1978), lies in the fact that artists typically hold other jobs while working as artists. Although the reasons for holding other jobs are diverse, many artists who hold them find they spend more time and earn more money at them. However, the Census questionnaire asks that the respondent report only one occupation, and that it be the one at which the most time was spent.(2) This criterion may be desirable for allocating persons to occupations in general, but raises serious questions when applied to those who work as artists. At the very least, the implications of the Census taxonomic procedure should be explored. Thus, there exist greater incentives for researchers wishing to study artists to conduct their own surveys of the relevant population than there might for studies of other occupational groups. However, a problem that arises when studying artists via a direct survey approach is selecting an appropriate rule that excludes from the sample to be analyzed those who don't "qualify" as artists. Because the paths to artistic success are diverse, literally

Today's girls in tomorrow's labor force: projecting their participation and occupations.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate dramatic changes in female employment over the last 25 years. In July 1984, 44% of all American workers were women, compared with 30% in 1950. The proportion of women in the labor force rose from 34% in 1950 to 54% in 1984; male participation rate during the same period dropped from 86% to 78%. Between 1950 and 1977, the worklife expectancy of a 20-year-old woman jumped from 14.5 years to 26 years, while that of men declined from 41.4 years to 36.8 years. The greatest changes in female participation in the labor force occurred among women from 25 to 34 years old. In 1970, only 45% of this age group participated in the labor force; a moderate growth scenario projects that 80% of this group will be in the labor force in 1995. Gains for women in terms of higher paying employment and earnings have not been as rapid. Most women are still employed in low-paying occupations traditionally identified with women. While 20% of managerial and professional jobs are now occupied by women, more than 42.5% of all working women are employed in traditionally low-paying sales or clerical and administrative support occupations. Women are 2.5 to 3 times more likely than men to work part-time. The ratio of women's full-time median weekly earnings to men's stood at 66% in 1983, reflecting only a small gain over 62% in 1973. Occupational projections indicate that service-producing industries will account for 75% of all new jobs before 1995. Manufacturing industries will account for another 17%. Opportunities for women are open in these areas, but employment and salaries will depend on such factors as experience, ability, region, firm or industry, hours worked, and unionization.

Income Level and Inflation Strain in the United States: 1971–1975

Abstract. Estimates of net inflationary effects in the United States from 1971 to 1975 are attempted by income level. The central concept is inflation strain, or the difference between the percentage change in prices and incomes as a percentage of change in incomes. Trends in prices are derived from United States Bureau of Labor Statistics data on lower and higher family budgets, admittedly subject to significant error, but the best we have. Equivalent income trends are estimated from data reported in the P‐60 series of the United States Bureau of the Census. Two findings are indicated. The first is that both higher and lower budget families experienced inflation strain, although the strain, of course, was substantially greater for lower budget families. The second finding is that the primary source of strain for the lower budget families was food, whereas the primary source of strain for the higher budget family was taxes, both income and Social Security taxes. The richer are getting poorer more slowly than the poor. Limitations of the techniques and data are analyzed.

A Critique of the Use of BLS Data for Market Structure‐Price Analysis

Food prices, and the factors affecting them, are subject to continuing examination by academicians and policy makers. As in most areas of economics, analysis is dependent on the available data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides in Estimated Retail Food Prices by City the only publicly available and ongoing data set on retail food prices. These data are widely used (and misused) in economic analysis. A recent study (Grinnell, Crawford, Feaster) that used the BLS data received considerable attention at hearings on prices and profits in food retailing conducted in the spring of 1977 by the Joint Economic Committee. Ignoring disclaimers by the study's authors, industry representatives cited the study as evidence that market concentration and retail food prices are unrelated and once again aroused interest in the validity of using BLS price data for cross-sectional market structuremarket price analysis.' It should be noted at the outset that BLS price data were never intended to answer the questions of industrial organization economists. BLS price data for food consumed at home attempt to reflect the average food costs of consumers in different metropolitan areas and the nation. Differences among city average prices may be due to differences in competitive environments, the products consumed, or the size and type of stores. All are possible causes. Determining the extent to which price differences are due to the different factors, a primary concern of industrial organization economists, is impossible with present BLS data. In examining the performance of markets, both operational efficiency (i.e., cost per unit of output) and allocative efficiency (i.e., the equivalence of prices and costs) are important and rather traditional dimensions of performance considered. Available data indicate that operational efficiency in supermarkets is much greater than in convenience and specialty stores. For entire markets, the great r the importance of supermarkets, the lower the expected cost of the retailing function. Analysis of allocative efficiency in retail food markets is particularly concerned about questions such as (a) Does Safeway, A&P, or other supermarket chains charge lower (higher) prices in their st res in competitively structured markets than in n ncompetitively structured markets? (b) Are average supermarket prices in competitively structured markets lower (higher) than in noncompetitively structured markets? Data to examine these questions are generally not available. This note considers the relevance of BLS price data for such analyses. That is, if store size and type is held approximately constant by examining only supermarkets, how are food prices affected by market concentration, barriers to entry, product (or enterprise) differentiation, and differences in factor costs? When used as an indicator of allocative efficiency across markets, BLS data have two major shortcomings. This paper discusses the nature and i plications of these shortcomings, but is not written as a criticism of BLS, because this agency has e phasized that its price data are collected for comparison of prices over time, not across markets (Rothwell). In developing retail food price data, BLS follows two procedures which would be expected to lead to an inverse relationship between market concentrati n and BLS market average prices. Briefly these are: (a) The brand of individual products selected for pricing is based upon volume and, hence, is allowed to vary from store to store and from market to market. The lack of comparability that results is particularly serious when private label products are selected in some cases and national brand in others. Lower priced private label products tend to be included more frequently in BLS calculations in concentrated than in unconcentrated markets. (b) BLS market average prices reflect the prices of all types of food stores in a market, weighted approximately in accord with their market share. However, if allocative efficiency is the performance dimension of interest, it is inappropriate to combine the prices of different types of stores into a market average. Because supermarkets represented 67% of all food store sales and 72% of all grocery store sales in 1972 and tend to set the competitive tone in most Frederick E. Geithman and Bruce W. Marion are research specialist and professor, respectively, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin. The helpful comments of Willard F. Mueller and Russell C. Parker on earlier versions of this paper are gratefully acknowledged by the authors. An additional BLS data set, the Urban Intermediate Food Budget, was introduced at the recent Joint Economic Committee hearings by food chain spokesmen as evidence that prices in local markets are not correlated with market concentration. The method of calculation has similar brand and outlet biases as BLS food price data and is plagued by additional limitations as well (Sherwood). All in all, the food budget data are as objectionable for use in market structure-price analysis as the currently published BLS food prices.