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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
April 1988
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In this Issue:
A new
ppi
price system
Labor market indicators in the U.S. and abroad
*
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Ann McLaughlin, Secretary
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Janet L. Norwood, Commissioner
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April cover:
‘‘Automobile Industry,” an oil study for a 1940 mural
by William Gropper (1897-1977);
one of the paintings in the exhibit,
‘‘Special Delivery: Murals for the New Deal Era.”
on display at the National Museum of American Art,
Washington, DC from January 15 through September 11, 1988.
Cover design by Melvin B. Moxley
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Sam M. Hirabayashi
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
RESEARCH LIBRARY
Federal Reserve Bank
of St. Louis
APRIL 1988
VOLUME 111, NUMBER 4
Henry Lowenstern, Editor-in-Chief
Robert W. Fisher, Executive Editor
MAY 0 9 1989
R. Gaddie, M. Zoller
3 New stage of process price system for Producer Price Index
The new industry-based system applies input/output relationships
of transactions to the measurement of industrial price change
I. K. Ford, P. Sturm
Mark Scott Sieling
17 c p s revision improves pricing of medical care services
Expenditures dropped with rise in employer or government-financed payments;
health insurance premiums now allocated to appropriate commodities and services
27 Strong gains in semiconductor productivity tied to innovation
High productivity gains, especially in the 1970’s, stemmed mainly from rapid
improvements in product design and manufacturing techniques and processes
M. W. Dumas, J. E. Henneberger
34 Productivity trends in cotton and synthetic fabrics industry
Expanding output per hour during 1972-86 has come about despite low growth
of output as the industry attempts to modernize and fend off increased imports
Joyanna Moy
39 Unemployment and other job indicators in 10 nations
Declining unemployment rates in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom
contrast with record highs reached in Japan, France, and Italy during 1987
REPORTS
Arthur S. Herman
W. M. Eisenberg, H. McDonald
Richard M. Devens
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51 Productivity in industries and government services, 1986
58 Evaluating workplace injury and illness records
60 A movable beast: regional employment patterns
DEPARTMENTS
2
51
58
63
65
67
Labor month in review
Productivity reports
Research summaries
Major agreements expiring next month
Developments in industrial relations
Current labor statistics
Labor M onth
In Review
KLEIN AWARD. The Lawrence R. Klein
Award trustees selected the authors of the
best articles published in the Monthly Labor
Review in 1987 as winners of the 19th annual
Klein Award, to be presented at the Bureau
of Labor Statistics awards ceremony on May
10.
The award for best article by a bls author
is shared by Sharon R. Cohany for “ Labor
force status of Vietnam-era veterans,” in the
February issue; and Michael W. Horrigan
for “ Time spent unemployed: a new look
at data from the CPS,” in the July issue.
Winner for the best article by an author
outside bls is Barry Alan Mirkin, an
economic affairs officer with the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe,
for “ Early retirement as a labor force
policy: an international overview,” in the
March issue.
Cited for honorable mention were bls
analysts Joan Borum, James Conley, and
Edward Wasilewski for their article,
“ Collective bargaining in 1987: local,
regional issues to set tone,” in the January
issue.
The Cohany article focuses on the work
experience of veterans of the Vietnam era
(August 1964-April 1975). These men, now
in their prime working ages, accounted for
more than 1 in 4 men ages 30-44 in the labor
force, according to data from a special
supplement to the April 1985 Current
Population Survey. With a 94-percent
participation rate, they were as likely to be
in the labor force as their nonveteran peers.
However, veterans of the Vietnam theater
were somewhat less likely to be labor force
participants (92 percent), in part because of
service-connected disabilities.
Vietnam-theater veterans, about 46
percent of the total, were more likely to be
unemployed (6.7 percent) than other
Vietnam-era veterans (5.4 percent). This
reflects their higher incidence of disability
and their relatively lower educational
attainment and socioeconomic backgrounds.
However, black and Hispanic veterans, like
2
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other veterans, had lower jobless rates than
their nonveteran counterparts.
Some 7 million Vietnam-era veterans
were employed at the time of the April 1985
survey. About 20 percent were working in
the public sector, probably because
government gives veterans preference in
hiring. Despite the availability of veterans’
educational benefits, veterans were less
likely to hold college and postgraduate
degrees than their nonveteran peers, and this
was reflected in the types of jobs they held.
Moreover, economic dislocations in recent
years have limited the growth of blue-collar
jobs, to the detriment of some veterans who
left the service with training in craft, repair,
and related fields.
The Horrigan article examines conceptual
and empirical problems in selecting the most
appropriate measure of the average total
time an individual remains unemployed. The
focus of the analysis is a comparison of
different methods of using data from the
Current Population Survey to construct
estimates of unemployment duration.
Most earlier studies of duration use
published, seasonally adjusted crosssectional data and incorporate the
assumption of a steady state level of
unemployment. Horrigan presents an
alternate model based on seasonally
unadjusted unpublished numbers, which
provide a monthly breakdown of the
distribution of current spell durations by
single weeks of unemployment. From this
model can be constructed seasonally
adjusted estimates of the size of a newly
unemployed group and its remaining sizes
in successive survey periods. The group-size
values can then be used to construct the
average p robabilities of rem aining
unemployed over time, which in turn can
be used to derive nonsteady state estimates
of the average time it takes a newly
em ployed
individual
to
leave
unemployment. Unlike other models of
unemployment duration, which tend to lag
the business cycle, the new model tends to
be coincident with cycle peaks and troughs.
The Mirkin article surveys the use of early
retirement policies to manipulate the size of
the labor force in western countries in recent
decades. Such policies have been more
prevalent in Europe than in North America
because of the relative stagnation of
European employment and the more rapid
graying of European populations.
Following a brief discussion of early
retirement programs in general, the author
presents an inventory of specific measures
implemented on a country-by-country basis
and examines the impact of the schemes on
the labor force participation of older
workers. Finally, the analysis of selected
schemes in greater detail provides the basis
for Mirkin’s conclusion that the projected
aging of western populations threatens the
policy viability of early-out plans, which
have the unfortunate side effect of masking
macroeconomic failings.
About the award. Trustees of the Klein
Award Fund are Lawrence R. Klein; Charles
D. Stewart, president; Ben Burdetsky,
secretary-treasurer; Peter Henle; Harold
Goldstein; Howard Rosen; and Henry
Lowenstem. The award was established in
1968 in honor of Lawrence R. Klein, editorin-chief of the Monthly Labor Review for 22
years until his retirement in 1968. Instead of
accepting a retirement gift, Klein donated it
and matched the amount collected to initiate
the fund. Since then he has contributed
regularly to the fund as have others. The
purpose of the award is to encourage Review
articles that (1) exhibit originality of ideas or
method of analysis, (2) adhere to the
principles of scientific inquiry, and (3) are
well written. Each winning article carries a
cash prize of $200.
Tax-deductible contributions to the fund
may be sent to Ben Burdetsky, SecretaryTreasurer, Lawrence R. Klein Fund, c/o
School of Government and Business
Administration, The George Washington
University, Washington DC 20052.
□
New stage of process price system
developed for the Producer Price Index
The new industry-based system applies input/output
transaction relationships to the measurement
of industrial price change
R o b e r t G a d d ie
and
M a u r e e n Z oller
A new industry-based stage of process price index system
was first published with the release of the Producer Price
Index for January 1988. This new index system for the first
time combines the industry price indexes developed through
the Producer Price Index revision with inter-industry trans
action data from the Department of Commerce Input/Output
Tables of the United States to create a rigorous input/output
price model of the industrial economy. Development and
publication of this new set of industry-based stage of process
indexes accomplishes one of the major objectives of the
Producer Price Index revision.1 This revision began in 1977
and now covers virtually all of the nearly 500 Standard
Industrial Classification (sic) industries in the mining and
manufacturing sectors of the economy.
In addition to the new industry-based stage of process
price system, the Bureau is continuing to publish the tradi
tional commodity-based stage of processing system, which
has been the focus of Producer Price Index presentation and
analysis since 1978.
The new industry-based stage of process system consists
of the following specific indexes:
1. Four major output indexes
a. Crude processors
b. Primary processors
c. Semifinished processors
d. Finished processors
Robert Gaddie and Maureen Zoller are economists in the Office of Prices
and Living Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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2. Four major input indexes with two major subindexes
for inputs to final demand
a. Inputs to primary processors
b. Inputs to semifinished processors
c. Inputs to finished processors
d. Inputs to final demand
(i) Inputs to personal consumption
(ii) Inputs to capital investment
These new indexes reflect the following advancements in
concept and approach:
• Explicit conceptual definition of the type of index pro
duced. In this new system, each index is explicitly
either an index of output from or an index of input to
a defined economic activity.
• Rigorous allocation of industries to processing stages,
using inter-industry shipments flow data developed
from the Input/Output Tables of the United States.
• Use of net output and net input weighting to eliminate
multiple counting of price change within the stage of
process system.
This article discusses the economic interest and concep
tual foundation of stage of process indexes, the algorithms
for assignment of industries to processing stages, and the
detailed methods of weighting and calculation.
Economic interest
Although a single number often is used to summarize the
rate of inflation in the economy, there are, at any given
3
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Stage o f Process Price System for PPI
time, a variety of rates of price change which characterize
different industries and economic sectors. In 1987, for ex
ample, the widely cited Producer Price Index ( p p i ) for Fin
ished Goods rose 2.1 percent. However, in the same year,
passenger car prices fell 3.1 percent while gasoline prices
climbed 20.5 percent. Also in 1987, the index for Crude
Materials moved up 8.8 percent and that for Intermediate
Materials, Supplies, and Components increased 5.5 percent.
A major challenge in constructing price indexes is to
develop an index system that summarizes this diversity of
price change into meaningful analytic constructs. The Bu
reau’s chief mechanism for accomplishing this is the stage
of process structure, which has been its primary vehicle for
publication and analysis of industrial price change since
1978.
The basic idea of a stage of process system is that the
economy can be subdivided into distinct economic segments
which can be arranged sequentially so that the outputs of
earlier segments become inputs to subsequent ones, up
through final demand. As a simple example, one economic
sector may produce wheat, which is input to another that
produces flour, which is input to another that produces
bread. To the extent that such a sequential system of proc
essing stages can be defined, it is possible to trace the
transmission of price change through the economy and to
develop information on both the timing and magnitude of
price passthroughs to final demand.
The stage of process approach is of particular interest
when inflationary pressures are first reflected in crude com
modities. This was certainly the case with the oil price
shocks of the 1970’s, but there has long been concern
among economists about how price changes in basic indus
tries such as steel are transmitted to other industries and
economic sectors.
At the time of the 1973-74 oil price shock, the Bureau’s
major publication vehicle for producer prices was the “All
Commodities” index, which included the full range of
priced items irrespective of their degree of fabrication. This
index became subject to considerable criticism as oil prices
surged because the crude oil price increase was multiplied as
it passed through into the cost structures of, first, refined
petroleum products manufacturers and then to other produc
ers as the higher energy prices were embodied in their cost
structures.2
With a stage of process approach, this multiple counting
of price change in the same index is limited. In addition, the
actual transmission of the crude changes is more easily
discerned than when it is masked in a single All Commodi
ties index number.
In 1978, the Bureau shifted its publication emphasis from
the All Commodities index to the commodity-based stage of
process system. The latter set of indexes had been calculated
for many years as an analytic aid. In the commodity-based
stage of process system, products priced in the p p i were
allocated to three stages of process based on their degree of
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fabrication and end use. Because industry indexes were not
available in the p p i system, it was impossible to create ag
gregates that would specifically reflect inputs and outputs of
defined economic sectors. But it was at least possible to
separate out major stages of a product’s fabrication to miti
gate multiple counting of price change. The Finished Goods
index was emphasized because it measured the prices of
goods nearest final consumption. The Crude and Intermedi
ate indexes served both as price measures for less fabricated
goods and as possible indicators of future movements in
Finished Goods prices as price changes were passed through
the economy.
While the emphasis on the stage of process system was
certainly an analytic advancement from summarizing all
price change in a single index number, the commoditybased stage of process system still contains some multiple
counting, particularly within the Intermediate Materials
index, and is not analytically rigorous in composition or
input/output definition. Therefore, the Bureau undertook an
effort to produce a stage of process system which would
reflect the actual input/output flow of transactions in the
economy and which would totally eliminate multiple count
ing of price change.3 The new industry-based stage of proc
ess system is the result of that effort.
Conceptual design
An industry-based stage of process design places indus
tries in processing stages based on their transaction relation
ships to other industries. For example, the agricultural in
dustries sell wheat to the flour milling industry which sells
flour to the bakery industry. In an industry-based stage of
process system, these industries would be placed in sequen
tial stages, because that is the way the sales and the cost
impacts flow.
The industry-based stage of process structure is explicitly
based on an input/output matrix as displayed in table 1. The
left hand column of table 1 consists of all the producing
industries in the economy, plus imports. Along the top of
the table are arrayed the same economic sectors, along with
final demand. Each box or cell within the matrix represents
the output of the category in the left-hand column which is
consumed by the category at the top of the column. For
example, cell “C” represents the output of primary goods
producers which is consumed by producers of semifinished
goods.
An output index for primary producers will include all of
the transactions in cells “A” through “H,” except cell “B ,”
which represents the value of sales of primary producers to
other primary producers. Alternatively, an input index for
primary producers will cover transactions in cells “I,” “J,”
“K,” and “L” in the column below primary producers.
Again, cell “B” is excluded because it contains only internal
sales among primary producers.
This generalized input/output matrix can be used to char
acterize the basic flow of a stage of process system as well
Table 1.
Generalized stage of processing input/output table, all industries
Consuming industry
Producing
industry
Crude
Primary
Final demand
Semifinished
Finished
Personal consump
tion expenditures
Capital
investment
Exports
C
D
E
F
G
Government
purchases
Imports
1
Crude
J
Primary
A
6
H
Semifinished
K
Finished
L
as the real world problems that may occur in constructing
one. As mentioned previously, the fundamental idea of a
stage of process system is that there are identifiable and
distinct economic sectors which can be arranged sequen
tially so that the outputs of earlier segments become inputs
to subsequent ones up through final demand. Therefore, in
an ideal stage of process system, all shipments would occur
in the cells just above the shaded diagonal. For example, in
an ideal stage of process system, all of the value of output
of primary producers would be in cell “C” and all of the
value of input to semifinished processors would be in cell
“C .” Unfortunately, the real world is more complex.
Variations from the ideal stage of process flow take the
following forms:
• Backflow occurs when part of the output of a given stage
of process is consumed by an earlier stage of process.
Cell “A” in table 1 represents backflow because output of
primary producers is consumed by crude producers. For
example, the refined petroleum industry is a primary pro
ducer but crude goods industries all use petroleum prod
ucts such as gasoline. The value of these sales is a backflow.
• Internal flow occurs when part of the output of a given
stage of process is consumed ¿vithin that stage of process.
Cell “B” in table 1 represents internal flow because it is
both output and input to primary producers. The refined
petroleum industry also sells gasoline to other primary
industries. The value of these sales is an internal flow.
• Skips occur when part of the output of a given stage of
process is consumed by stages of process beyond the one
next forward. Cell “D” in table 1 represents a skip be
cause part of the output of primary producers is consumed
by finished producers, a category two stages forward
from primary. Continuing the petroleum example, the
refined petroleum industry sells a portion of its products
directly to finished goods producers. The value of these
sales is a skip.
• Leakages occur if some portion of output does not appear
as input anywhere in the system. This cannot occur if the
stage of process system is comprehensive of all transac
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tions, but it is of interest because leakage does occur in
partial systems. For example, p p i pricing at this time does
not include motor freight (trucking). Therefore, in a stage
of process design based on the current p p i price universe,
the sales of gasoline and diesel fuel to the trucking indus
try will simply “leak” out of the system. These outputs
will not appear as inputs because the trucking industry
which consumes them is not priced.
Much of the discussion of stage of process design empha
sizes minimization of backflow as the primary goal. Backflow is a substantial problem, because it introduces circular
ity into what is supposed to be a sequential system.
Additionally, if output is flowing backward, it obviously
impairs the forward directionality of the index system which
is crucial to its analytic usefulness.
The existence of internal flow has some of the same
effects. While internal flow does not cause circularity in the
system, it does reduce its forward directionality. Equally as
important if not more so, large internal flows would tend to
indicate a faulty taxonomy. That is to say, if industries
within a stage of process are substantially shipping to each
other, there probably are within that stage of process two or
more real processing stages which should be separated.
The p p i industry stage of process design takes both backflow and internal flow into account by emphasizing the goal
of maximum net forward flow. In terms of table 1, this
means that the system should maximize the value of ship
ments appearing above and to the right of the shaded diago
nal.
Skips and leakages present a somewhat different set of
problems. While they do not affect directionality of the
system, they do create difference between the output of one
processing stage and inputs to the next. Leakages are a
particularly significant problem because current p p i pricing
is substantially limited to mining, manufacturing, and agri
culture. Pricing of the service sector is spotty and is only
slowly being expanded.
Because skips and leakages cannot at this time be
avoided, the p p i stage of process system explicitly provides
material input indexes for each stage of process beyond
5
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Stage o f Process Price System for PPI
crude producers. Input indexes also compensate for what
ever problems of backflow remain after forward flow is
maximized. The difference between the output index of one
processing stage and the material input index to the next can
be evaluated specifically by comparing these indexes in the
ppi system.
Categorization of industries
The ppi stage of process design began with the determina
tion that there should be four stages of process:
•
•
•
•
Crude producers
Primary producers
Semifinished producers
Finished producers
This categorization reflects a considerable amount of experi
ence with stage of process index problems. It particularly
reflects concern that the Intermediate Materials component
in the traditional three-stage ppi system is too broad and is
masking significant internal differences. In addition,
through the course of allocating industries to processing
stages, the magnitude of internal flow was specifically eval
uated. The relatively small amount of internal flow achieved
indicates that a four-part division is appropriate.
The key set of data needed to allocate industries to proc
essing stages is comprehensive information on the pattern of
inter-industry shipments. The basic source of this informa
tion is the Input/Output Tables of the United States pub
lished by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The input/output tables show all output of goods and services produced by
industry and show the goods and services each industry
consumes. Using an assumption that firms are indifferent as
to the industry of origin for the goods and services they buy,
these tables can be recalculated into a matrix of inter
industry shipments. These data can then be used to rigor
ously evaluate the flow characteristics of any given stage of
process allocation. This was done using the 1977 Input/
Output tables, which were the most recent available for
detailed (537-industry) input/output industry definitions.
Because final demand is predefined and all of the other
processing stages are to be defined through the allocation
process, the first step in stage of process allocation is to
identify those input/output industries shipping to final de
mand. Those that ship exclusively to final demand must be
finished goods producers, because they would have no
backflow, no internal flow, and only forward flow to final
demand. There are, however, many other industries that do
not ship exclusively to final demand but ship a large percent
age of their product to final demand. The question then
becomes, which of these industries should be allocated to
the group of finished goods producers?
To make that determination, a frequency distribution was
constructed for all industries showing the proportion of their
net shipments that go to final demand. Clearly, industries
shipping more than 95 percent of their output to final de
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mand should be classified as finished goods producers and
the frequency diagram showed similar numbers of industries
shipping 75 to 85 percent and 86 to 95 percent of their output
to final demand. The number of industries in the intervals
shipping below 75 percent to final demand fell sharply,
however. Therefore, as a first cut, all industries that shipped
75 percent or more of their output to final demand were
classified as finished producers.
This process was then repeated for earlier stages of proc
ess. To determine the first cut for semifinished producers,
for example, a frequency distribution was prepared showing
shipments of unallocated industries to final demand and to
industries previously identified as finished. Through this
process, a breakpoint of 60 percent was identified, so that
semifinished producers were those industries which shipped
60 percent of their output to finished producers and final
demand but shipped less than 75 percent of their output to
final demand alone.
A forward breakpoint of 60 percent was also identified for
primary producers. Crude producers were the industries left
over after the other stages of process were defined.
The result of this series of preliminary allocations was a
base stage of processing allocation which could then be
iteratively improved by analyzing the net forward flow con
tribution of individual industries. The specific mechanism
for this analysis was calculation of the net forward flow
effect for each industry if it were placed in each processing
stage with all other industry allocations remaining un
changed. Optimally, an industry should be assigned to the
processing stage in which its net forward flow contribution
is largest.
The net forward flow effect for each individual industry
was expressed as the following:
1. The sum of forward shipments of the industry and the
inputs received from prior stages of process, minus
2. The sum of backward shipments of the industry and
the inputs received from forward stages of process.
Using this procedure, the allocations were iteratively im
proved until further reassignments could not significantly
improve net forward flow. When the net forward flow statis
tics between two stages of process were very close for an
individual industry, however, there was a preference for
placing the industry with other similar industries and to limit
problems with skips.
Table 2. Percentages of producing industry output con
sumed by stage of process, all industries
Consuming industry
Producing
industry
Crude ................................
Primary ..............................
Semifinished .....................
Finished..............................
Crude
Primary
Semifinished
Finished
Final
demand
14.5
7.5
6.2
1.1
30.8
11.8
4.3
1.3
9.5
25.9
7.4
1.1
15.7
20.8
38.8
3.1
29.4
34.0
43.3
93.3
Table 3. Percentages of producing industry output con
sumed by stage of process, processor component only
Consuming industry
Producing
industry
Crude ................................
Primary ..............................
Semifinished .....................
Finished..............................
Crude
Primary
Semifinished
Finished
Final
demand
17,8
7.7
4.9
1.8
53.3
13.8
3.3
1.1
8.8
34.3
8.2
1.5
4.6
23.0
44.6
6.3
15.5
21.2
38.9
89.3
Table 2 shows the flow characteristics of the final ppi
stage of process design. The percentages shown in the table
represent that part of the output of each row stage consumed
by each column stage. Using primary producers as an exam
ple, the flow pattern is as follows:
• 7.5 percent of the output of primary producers is con
sumed by crude producers. This is a backflow.
• 11.8 percent of the output of primary producers is con
sumed by primary producers. This is an internal flow.
• 80.7 percent of the output of primary producers is con
sumed by forward stages of process (25.9 percent by
semifinished, plus 20.8 percent by finished, plus 34.0
percent by final demand). This is forward flow.
The total flow statistics for the entire stage of process
structure are: backflow, 5.01 percent; internal flow, 7.86
percent; forward flow, 87.13 percent; and shipments to the
next forward stage of process, 57.30 percent.
This system exhibits extremely strong directionality with
very small backflow. In addition, the relatively small per
centages of internal shipments indicate that the four-stage
taxonomy is effectively isolating processing stages. How
ever, there remains a problem with skips, because only
57.30 percent of shipments are going to the next forward
processing stage. This serves to underline the importance of
specific input indexes as components of the stage of process
system.
In addition to considering the flow characteristics of a
complete model involving all industries in the economy, the
p p i design has to consider the flow characteristics of a more
limited model which corresponds to the industries now
priced. Although the p p i is moving to increase its coverage
of the service sector, the bulk of p p i pricing remains in
agriculture, mining, and manufacturing. The set of stage of
process indexes that the Bureau is able to produce at this
time thus is limited to “processors,” or those industries that
are primarily engaged in the physical transformation of
goods. The net shipments of processors accounted for 42
percent of the total net value of output of all producing
industries in the economy, according to the 1977 input/output tables.
A flow analysis was calculated for the processor compo
nent alone to evaluate the allocation design for the specific
set of industries that would be covered by currently available
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Producer Price Indexes. The flows in this analysis represent
shipments by processors to all industries (processors and
nonprocessors) and to final demand. The results appear in
table 3. The summary flow statistics: backflow, 5.76 per
cent; internal flow, 10.59 percent; forward flow, 83.66 per
cent.
The flow pattern for processors alone is nearly as good as
for all industries. The ppi system thus can be rather straight
forwardly constructed in two steps. The first step is to pro
duce input and output indexes for processors alone and for
processors’ input to final demand, using currently available
Producer Price Indexes. The second step is to construct a set
of indexes for nonprocessors and for the total economy as
ppi index coverage is expanded. The new stage of process
indexes just introduced reflect completion of the first step of
the long-term construction of this system.
Output indexes for processors
The result of the allocation process described above was
to place each of the 537 input/output industries in its appro
priate stage of process. To create ppi output price indexes,
it is necessary to match the ppi four-digit industry net output
indexes4 to those input/output industries that are processors,
and then to weight them appropriately.
The Department of Commerce publishes a general con
cordance between the input/output industry classification
and the Standard Industrial Classification. This leads to
unique assignment of most four-digit ppi industries which
are based on the sic system. For those remaining cases in
which there was not a one-to-one match between input/out
put and ppi industries, the ppi industries were assigned to the
input/output industry that appeared to reflect the bulk of the
ppi industry’s shipments value. Through this process, each
ppi four-digit industry was assigned to one, and only one,
stage of process. The final allocation of ppi industries by
stage of process appears in exhibit 1.
The industries are weighted into the stage of process total
based on their 1982 net output value of shipments. The net
output value includes only that portion of output value
which goes to industries in other stages of process and
excludes shipments among industries within a stage of proc
ess. Net output weighting eliminates multiple counting of
price change by weighting only those prices that affect other
economic sectors. The specific methodology for the indus
try weights within a stage of process is to multiply the 1982
total value of industry shipments, generally available from
either the 1982 Census of Manufactures or Census of Min
eral Industries, by a net output ratio calculated from the
input/output tables. The net output ratio is the proportion of
industry shipments that goes to industries outside the stage
of process.
The net output weights are then applied to the ppi four
digit industry indexes, as currently published in table 5 of
the Bureau’s publication Producer Price Indexes, to calcu
late aggregate indexes by stage of process. Several sub7
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Stage o f Process Price System for PPI
indexes also are produced within each stage of process
which correspond to important economic characteristics.
For example, separate subindexes are produced for foods
processors, energy processors, nondurable goods proces
sors, and durable goods processors. The output indexes by
stage of process will be published as table 12 in Producer
Price Indexes. An example of the output index system ap
pears here as table 4.
products within an industry’s product line may be consumed
by different stages of process. For example, gasoline pro
duced by the petroleum refining industry may be consumed
at all stages of process while jet fuel would be predomi
nantly consumed by the processing stage that included air
lines.
The input index design, therefore, has to specifically deal
with these two issues:
• What proportion of a particular industry’s products is
consumed by a given stage of process?
• What particular mix of those products is consumed by
that given stage of process?
Input indexes for processors
Construction of input indexes by stage of process is some
what more complicated than construction of output indexes.
In the output indexes, all of an industry’s production is
assigned to one, and only one, stage of process. In the input
indexes, however, a single industry’s products may be con
sumed at several processing stages. In addition, different
Table 4.
The answer to the first question can be estimated from the
input/output tables. Because the input/output tables show
consumption of products by commodity category, the pro-
Producer Price Indexes and percent changes for the net output of industry by stage of process
(June 1987=100)
Unadjusted percent changes
Unadjusted
Grouping1
Relative
importance,
December
1987
Index2
October
19872
January
19882
February
19882
12
months
ending
February
1988
3 months ending—
May
1987
August
1987
November
1987
February
1988
January
1988
to
February
1988
Net output from:
Crude processors..................................................................
Crude agricultural and feed processors............................
Crude agricultural processors .......................................
Crude feed processors .................................................
Crude mining processors .................................................
Crude manufacturing processors less feeds ...................
Crude nondurables processors ....................................
Crude durables processors ...........................................
100.000
9.132
5.438
3.694
48.054
42.814
32.093
10.721
101.2
96.3
93.3
100.9
99.3
104.6
103.2
109.1
101.8
105.1
103.2
108.0
96.0
108.0
105.7
115.7
101.9
108.0
108.8
106.7
95.4
108.5
107.0
113.6
5.3
(3)
28.3
11.6
-2.5
(3)
9.9
17.8
2.6
(3)
18.0
2.9
1.5
(3)
2.0
3.1
2.2
(3)
-12.9
0.6
3.3
(3)
2.3
5.0
-0.3
8.8
12.3
4.0
-4.7
3.2
2.2
6.5
0.7
8.1
11.1
3.6
-2 .5
2.8
3.1
2.2
0.1
2.8
5.4
-1.2
-0 .6
0.5
1.2
-1.8
Primary processors ..............................................................
Primary agricultural and food processors..........................
Primary agricultural processors ....................................
Primary food processors ...............................................
Primary mining processors ...............................................
Primary manufacturing processors less foods .................
Primary nondurables processors..................................
Primary durables processors.........................................
100.000
15.578
13.684
1.894
0.940
83.482
51.105
32.377
101.4
98.1
97.7
100.7
100.1
102.1
102.0
102.4
100.6
98.0
96.8
107.9
101.4
101.1
99.1
104.4
100.7
98.4
97.7
103.7
101.3
101.1
99.1
104.4
3.4
(3)
0.9
13.3
2.7
(3)
2.5
5.2
2.2
(3)
5.4
9.1
1.2
(3)
2.0
0.7
2.3
(3)
-2.3
-3.3
0.3
(3)
4.5
1.1
-0.1
-2 .7
-4.5
12.1
0.1
0.6
-0.2
1.6
-1.0
1.9
2.6
-4.2
1.1
-1 .7
-3 .6
1.8
0.1
0.4
0.9
-3.9
-0.1
0.0
0.0
Semifinished processors ......................................................
Semifinished agricultural and food processors.................
Semifinished agricultural processors ............................
Semifinished food processors .......................................
Semifinished manufacturing processors less foods ........
Semifinished nondurables processors ..........................
Semifinished durables processors................................
100.000
22.299
2.919
19.380
77.701
22.684
55.017
100.5
98.7
97.9
98.8
101.0
101.4
100.8
102.2
101.2
114.1
99.5
102.5
103.4
102.1
101.9
99.0
94.6
99.5
102.7
104.0
102.2
3.0
(3)
-3.3
1.9
(3)
5.1
2.9
1.0
(3)
-1.0
2.8
(3)
0.9
0.6
0.0
(3)
-6.4
-1.1
(3)
0.7
0.4
1.3
2.6
34.5
-1.1
0.9
1.1
0.8
0.7
-1.8
-22.4
1.4
1.4
2.3
1.1
-0.3
-2 .2
-17.1
Finished processors..............................................................
Finished foods processors ...............................................
Finished mining processors...............................................
Finished manufacturing processors less foods.................
Finished nondurables processors..................................
Finished durables processors ......................................
100.000
19.785
1.953
78.263
19.588
58.674
101.2
100.4
103.4
101.3
101.9
101.2
101.6
100.8
105.3
101.7
103.6
101.1
101.9
101.0
108.2
102.0
104.1
101.3
2.4
2.6
7.7
(3)
4.7
1.4
0.5
1.2
(3)
0.5
0.2
0.4
0.9
1.7
(3)
1.4
-0.1
0.6
-0.5
1.2
0.9
0.5
1.1
0.9
1.0
4.6
0.8
2.3
0.2
0.3
0.2
2.8
0.3
0.5
0.2
46.413
53.587
94.562
90.868
44.454
21.376
78.624
63.046
80.215
99.3
103.0
101.7
101.7
104.4
102.2
101.2
102.1
101.4
95.9
107.3
101.7
101.5
107.7
93.3
102.7
103.9
101.8
95.3
108.1
101.5
101.3
108.2
92.5
103.0
104.2
102.1
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
-4 .9
4.0
-1.0
-1.1
3.1
-2.4
0.7
1.6
0.9
-2 .5
3.5
0.2
-0 .6
0.7
-0.2
-0.2
0.5
-0.9
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.2
0.6
0.1
Special groupings:
Crude energy processors .................................................
Crude processors less energy...........................................
Crude processors less agriculture....................................
Crude processors less agriculture and fe e d s ...................
Crude processors less agriculture, feed, and energy . . . .
Primary energy processors...............................................
Primary processors less energy ......................................
Primary processors less agriculture, food, and energy . . .
Finished processors less fo o d ...........................................
1 1ndexes in this table are derived from the industry indexes in table 5 of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics periodical Producer Price Indexes. Industries are allocated to stages of process based
on inter-industry shipment patterns from the 1977 input/output relationships.
8
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
0.0
2.8
-10.8
1.8
1.8
0.8
2 All data are subject to revision 4 months after original publication. Data are not seasonally
adjusted.
3 Not available.
Table 5.
Producer Price Indexes and percent changes for net material inputs to industry stage of process and final demand
(June 1987=100)
Unadjusted percent changes
Unadjusted
Grouping1
Relative
importance,
December
1987
Index2
3 months ending—
12
October
January
February
19872
19882
19882
months
ending
February
1988
January
1988
May
August
November
February
1987
1987
1987
1988
to
February
1988
Net material input to:
Primary processors ..............................................................
Foods and agricultural products .......................................
Crude food and agricultural products............................
Processed fo o d s ............................................................
E nergy...............................................................................
Goods less food and e ne rgy.............................................
Mining products less energy .........................................
Nondurables less food and energy................................
Durables.........................................................................
100.000
12.388
5.634
6.754
37.539
50.072
1.592
30.522
17.958
102.0
97.1
93.0
100.8
100.8
104.2
97.1
103.2
106.8
100.0
105.1
101.4
108.3
90.0
107.0
97.7
104.8
111.9
100.3
107.2
107.8
106.6
89.8
107.1
97.4
105.7
110.8
5.4
18.7
27.7
11.6
-4 .5
10.1
0.2
8.6
13.8
3.5
10.0
18.8
3.0
3.6
2.0
1.2
1.7
2.3
4.6
-6.3
-13.9
0.5
10.3
2.6
-0 .5
2.6
3.0
-0.3
7.7
12.4
4.0
-6.5
3.3
-0.6
2.3
5.6
-2.3
7.0
11.0
3.6
-10.6
1.8
0.1
1.7
2.3
0.3
2.0
6.3
-1 .6
-0.2
0.1
-0.3
0.9
-1 .0
Semifinished processors .....................................................
Foods and agricultural products ......................................
Crude food and agricultural products............................
Processed fo o d s ............................................................
E nergy...............................................................................
Goods less food and ene rgy.............................................
Mining products less energy .........................................
Nondurables less food and energy................................
Durables.........................................................................
100.000
26.290
24.253
2.037
1.844
71.865
1.003
31.444
39.418
101.3
97.2
96.9
100.6
102.3
102.9
100.3
102.4
103.4
102.5
96.2
95.6
103.4
93.8
105.3
102.1
104.1
106.4
103.0
97.7
97.4
101.2
91.8
105.4
102.1
104.6
106.2
5.3
2.1
1.7
6.5
-2.9
6.7
3.9
6.1
7.4
2.4
5.9
5.8
5.1
3.4
0.9
1.3
0.8
1.0
0.7
-2 .0
-2 .0
-1.1
9.1
1.5
0.7
1.6
1.5
0.2
-4 .7
-5.5
5.0
-2.4
2.3
0.3
1.9
2.7
2.0
3.3
3.7
-2.3
-11.7
1.8
1.5
1.7
2.0
0.5
1.6
1.9
-2.1
-2.1
0.1
Finished processors..............................................................
Foods and agricultural products .......................................
Crude food and agricultural products............................
Processed fo o d s ............................................................
E nergy...............................................................................
Goods less food and en e rg y.............................................
Mining products less energy .........................................
Nondurables less food and energy................................
Durables.........................................................................
100.000
11.830
3.839
7.991
0.726
87.445
0.063
30.698
56.688
101.2
100.3
102.3
99.5
102.3
101.3
101.3
102.0
101.0
102.6
103.1
107.9
101.0
93.9
102.6
104.5
103.7
101.9
102.4
100.1
98.7
100.7
91.9
102.8
104.5
104.4
102.0
3.3
1.5
-3.8
4.0
-2.9
3.5
5.4
5.5
2.6
0.7
1.4
-3 .0
3.5
3.3
0.5
0.4
0.6
0.6
0.5
-1 .7
-3.0
-1.1
9.1
0.7
1.7
1.0
0.4
1.5
4.5
15.5
-0 .2
-2.6
1.1
0.8
1.8
0.8
0.6
-2 .5
-11.5
1.8
-11.5
1.2
2.5
2.0
0.8
-0 .2
-2 .9
-8.5
-0.3
-2.1
0.2
Final dem and.........................................................................
Consumers.........................................................................
Foods and agricultural products....................................
Crude food and agricultural products ........................
Processed foods ........................................................
Energy ...........................................................................
Consumer goods less food and energy .......................
Mining products less energy.......................................
Nondurables less food and ene rgy............................
Durables .....................................................................
Capital investment ............................................................
100.000
71.917
26.906
2.505
24.402
6.060
38.950
0.003
22.481
16.466
28.083
101.0
100.9
99.7
100.1
99.6
100.6
101.9
101.3
101.8
102.0
101.1
101.1
100.9
100.8
110.6
99.9
91.1
102.6
102.1
103.8
101.1
101.7
101.0
100.6
99.6
96.2
99.9
90.0
103.0
102.1
104.3
101.1
102.0
(3)
2.1
0.9
-5.8
1.5
-2.6
3.6
1.1
5.0
1.6
2.2
(3)
1.3
1.3
-1.8
1.6
5.3
0.6
-1.5
0.7
0.6
0.3
(3)
1.0
-0 .2
-4 .3
0.1
9.0
0.6
0.5
1.2
-0 .4
0.2
0.7
0.5
0.8
20.9
-0.9
-3.8
1.1
2.7
0.6
1.9
0.8
-0 .3
-0 .7
-1 .0
-17.1
0.7
-11.9
1.3
-0 .6
2.5
-0 .5
0.9
-0.1
-0.3
-1.2
-13.0
73.093
93.910
67.004
91.573
62.587
39.687
101.5
101.0
101.6
101.0
101.7
101.5
101.3
101.8
102.2
101.9
101.0
101.0
101.5
101.7
102.6
101.6
101.1
101.2
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
0.6
0.9
1.0
1.1
0.4
-0 .4
0.0
0.2
-0.1
0.4
-0 .3
0.1
0.2
0.0
0.5
-0 .2
0.0
0.7
0.1
0.0
-1 .2
0.4
0.0
0.5
0.0
0.3
Special groupings:
Final demand less foods and agricultural products...........
Final demand less energy.................................................
Final demand less food and energy..................................
Consumer goods less energy4 .........................................
Consumer goods less foods and agricultural products4 ..
Nondurable consumer goods less foods4 .......................
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
0.5
1.1
0.3
-0 .7
-0 .7
1 1ndexes in this table are derived from the product indexes in table 5 of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics publication Producer Price Indexes. These indexes are composed of the goods .used
by the industries in each of the industry stage of process output indexes as shown by the 1977
input/output relationships. These material inputs include only domestic input and do not include
any imported materials which may be used.
2 All data are subject to revision 4 months after original publication. Data are not seasonally
adjusted.
portionate use is simply the total commodity consumption of
industries within the processing stage divided by the total
use of the commodity by all industries. The gross commod
ity weights for the input indexes thus are the 1982 commod
ity value of shipments, usually from the Census of Manufac
tures or Census of Mineral Industries, multipled by the
proportionate use ratio calculated as above from the input/
output tables.
One further step is then required to calculate the final
input index weights. The focus of interest in input indexes
is in flows into the stage of process, not internal transactions
within the stage of process. Therefore, the commodity usage
of each processing stage must be reduced by a net input
ratio. The net input ratio, calculated from the input/output
tables, reflects the proportion of commodity inputs that is
received from industries outside the processing stage of
interest. For example, the net input ratio for petroleum prod
ucts would be high in all processing stages except the one
that includes the petroleum refining industry.
The total weight available in a given stage of process
input index for a single four-digit sic commodity is:
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3 Not available.
4 Percent of final input to consumers.
1. The 1982 total value of four-digit sic commodity ship
ments, multiplied by
9
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Exhibit 1.
April 1988 •
Stage of Process Price System for PP1
Final allocation of Producer Price Index industries by stage of process
sic
Industry
Crude processors
0115
0116
Com
Soybeans
1011
1021
1031
1041
1044
1051
1061
1094
1099
Iron ores
Copper ores
Lead and zinc ores
Gold ores
Silver ores
Bauxite and other aluminum ores
Ferroalloy ores
Uranium, radium, and vanadium ores
Metal ores, n.e.c.
1111
1213
1311
1321
1389
Anthracite
Anthracite mining services
Bituminous coal and lignite
Bituminous coal and lignite mining services
Crude petroleum and natural gas
Natural gas liquids
Oil and gas field services, n.e.c.
1452
1453
1454
1455
1459
1472
1473
1474
1475
1476
1477
1479
1481
1492
1496
1499
Bentonite
Fire clay
Fuller’s earth
Kaolin and ball clay
Clay and related minerals, n.e.c.
Barite
Fluorspar
Potash, soda, and borate minerals
Phosphate rock
Rock salt
Sulfur
Chemical and fertilizer mineral mining, n.e.c.
Nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) services
Gypsum mining
Talc, soapstone, and pyrophyllite
Miscellaneous nonmetallic minerals
2048
2298
2393
2411
2448
2611
2631
2646
Prepared animal feeds, n.e.c.
Cordage and twine
Textile bags
Logging camps and logging contractors
Wood pallets and skids
Pulp mills
Paperboard mills
Pressed and molded pulp goods
2753
2782
2791
2793
2794
2795
Engraving and plate printing
Blankbooks and looseleaf binders
Typesetting
Photoengraving
Electrotyping and stereotyping
Lithographic platemaking services
2812
2813
2816
2819
Alkalies and chlorine
Industrial gases
Inorganic pigments
Industrial inorganic chemicals, n.e.c.
1112
1211
X
10
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
sic
Industry
2821
2823
2824
2843
2861
2865
2869
2873
2874
2875
2879
2893
Plastic materials and resins
Cellulosic manmade fibers
Noncellulosic organic fibers
Surface-active agents
Gum and wood chemicals
Cyclic (coal tar) crudes and intermediates, organic
dyes and pigments
Industrial organic chemicals, n.e.c.
Nitrogenous fertilizers
Phosphatic fertilizers
Fertilizers, mixing only
Agricultural chemicals, n.e.c.
Printing ink
3274
3295
3313
3331
3332
3333
3334
3339
3341
3398
3399
Lime
Minerals and earths, ground or treated
Electrometallurgical products
Primary copper
Primary smelted and refined lead
Primary zinc
Primary aluminum
Primary nonferrous metals, n.e.c.
Secondary nonferrous metals
Metal heat treating
Primary metal products, n.e.c.
3412
3565
3624
Metal barrels, drums, and pails
Industrial patterns
Carbon and graphite products
Primary processors
0111
0112
0131
0132
0133
Wheat
Rice
Cotton
Tobacco
Sugar crops
0211
0212
0213
0214
0241
0251
0252
0253
0254
0259
0271
0272
0279
0912
Beef cattle feedlots
Beef cattle, except feedlots
Hogs
Sheep and goats
Dairy farms
Boiler, fryer, and roaster chickens
Chicken eggs
Turkeys and turkey eggs
Poultry hatcheries
Poultry and eggs, n.e.c.
Fur-bearing animals and rabbits
Horses and other equines'
Animal specialties, n.e.c.
Unprocessed fin fish
1411
1422
1423
1429
1442
1446
Dimension stone
Crushed and broken limestone
Crushed and broken granite, n.e.c.
Crushed and broken stone, n.e.c.
Construction sand and gravel
Industrial sand
Exhibit 1.
Continued— Final allocation of Producer Price Index industries by stage of process
Industry
SIC
Primary processors (cont)
2046
2075
2076
Wet corn milling
Soybean oil mill products
Vegetable oil mills, n.e.c.
2241
2269
2283
2291
2294
2296
2297
2299
Narrow fabric mills
Finished yam, raw stock, braided goods and
narrow fabric, except knits and wool
Spun yarn, except wool
Texturing, throwing, and winding mill products:
cotton, manmade fibers and silk
Wool yam
Felt goods, except woven felt and hats
Processed textile waste
Tire cord and fabric
Nonwoven fabrics and related products
Textile goods, n.e.c.
2421
2441
2449
2492
2499
Sawmills and planing mills
Nailed wood boxes and shook
Wood containers, n.e.c.
Particleboard
Wood products, n.e.c.
2621
2641
2642
2645
2651
2652
2653
2654
2655
2661
Paper mill products except building paper
Paper coating and glazing
Envelopes
Die-cut paper and board
Folding paperboard boxes
Setup paperboard boxes
Corrugated and solid fiber boxes
Sanitary food containers
Fiber cans, drums and similar products
Building paper and building board mills
2751
2752
2754
2761
Commercial printing, letterpress
Commercial printing, lithographic
Commercial printing, gravure
Manifold business forms
2822
2851
2891
2895
2899
Synthetic rubber
Paints and allied products
Adhesives and sealants
Carbon black
Chemicals and chemical preparations, n.e.c.
2911
3031
3079
Petroleum refining
Reclaimed rubber
Miscellaneous plastic products
3211
3221
3229
3231
3241
3264
3291
3292
3293
Flat glass
Glass containers
Pressed and blown glass, n.e.c.
Products of purchased glass
Hydraulic cement
Procelain electrical supplies
Abrasive products
Asbestos products
Gaskets, packing, and sealing devices
2281
2282
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SIC
Industry
3297
3299
Nonclay refractories
Nonmetallic mineral products, n.e.c.
3312
3315
3316
3317
3321
3322
3324
3325
3351
3353
3361
3362
3369
Blast furnaces and steel mills
Steel wire and related products - mfpm
Cold finishing of steel shapes - mfpm
Steel pipe and tubes - mfpm
Gray iron foundries
Malleable iron foundries
Steel investment foundries
Steel foundries, n.e.c.
Rolling, drawing, and extruding of copper
Aluminum sheet, plate, foil, and welded tube
products
Aluminum extruded products
Aluminum rolling and drawing, n.e.c.
Rolling, drawing, and extruding nonferrous metals,
except copper and aluminum
Aluminum foundries
Brass, bronze, and copper foundries
Nonferrous foundries, n.e.c.
3423
3451
3452
3462
3463
3469
3471
3479
3499
Hand and edge tools, n.e.c.
Screw machine products
Bolts, nuts, screws, rivets, and washers
Iron and steel forgings
Nonferrous forgings
Metal stampings, n.e.c.
Metal plating and polishing
Metal coating and allied services
Fabricated metal products, n.e.c.
3544
Special tools, dies, jigs, fixtures and industrial
molds
Machine tool accessories
Ball and roller bearings
Carburetors, pistons, piston rings, and valves
Machinery, except electrical, n.e.c.
Marking devices
Carbon paper and inked ribbons
3354
3355
3356
3545
3562
3592
3599
3953
3955
Semifinished processors
0134
0161
0171
0172
0173
0174
0175
0176
0183
Irish potatoes
Vegetables
Berry crops
Grapes
Tree nuts
Citrus fruits
Deciduous tree fruits
Melons
Greenhouse and nursery products
2011
2018
2023
2026
2041
2044
Meat packing plants
Poultry dressing, poultry and egg processing
Condensed and evaporated milk
Fluid milk
Flour and other grain mill products
Rice milling
11
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Exhibit 1.
April 1988 •
Stage o f Process Price System fo r PPI
Continued— Final allocation of Producer Price Index industries by stage of process
Industry
SIC
Semifinished processors (cont)
2061
2062
2063
2066
2074
2077
2079
2083
2084
2085
2087
2092
2095
2099
2141
Raw cane sugar mills
Cane sugar refining
Beet sugar processing
Chocolate and cocoa products
Cottonseed oil mill products
Animal and marine fats and oils
Shortening and cooking oils
Malt and malt byproducts
Wines, brandy and brandy spirits
Distilled liquor, except brandy
Flavoring extracts and sirups, n.e.c.
Fresh or frozen packaged fish
Coffee
Food preparations, n.e.c.
Stemmed and redried tobacco
2211
2221
Cotton broadwoven fabric
Synthetic fiber and silk broadwoven fabric
Wool weaving and finishing
Circular knit fabrics
Warp knit fabrics
Finished cotton broadwoven fabric
Finished synthetic fiber and silk broadwoven fabric
Woven carpets and rugs
Tufted carpets and rugs
Carpets and rugs, n.e.c.
Thread mills
Lace goods
Padding and upholstery filling
Coated fabrics, not rubberized
2231
2257
2258
2261
2262
2271
2272
2279
2284
2292
2293
2295
2394
2395
2396
2397
2399
Canvas and related products
Pleating, stitching, and tucking
Automotive trimmings, apparel findings, and related
products
Schiffli machine embroideries
Fabricated textile products, n.e.c.
2426
2429
2431
2434
2435
2436
2439
2452
2491
Hardwood dimension and flooring
Special product sawmills, n.e.c.
Millwork
Wood kitchen cabinets
Hardwood veneer and plywood
Softwood plywood
Structural wood members, n.e.c.
Prefabricated wood buildings and components
Wood preserving
2517
2519
2531
2541
Wood tv and radio cabinets
Household furniture, n.e.c.
Public building and related furniture
Wood partitions and fixtures
2643
2649
2711
2721
2732
Bags, except textile bags
Convered paper products, n.e.c.
Newspaper publishing
Periodical publishing
Book printing
12
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SIC
Industry
2741
2789
Miscellaneous publishing
Bookbinding and related work
2831
2833
2834
2892
Biological products
Medicinal chemicals and botanical products
(in bulk)
Pharmaceutical preparations
Explosives
2951
2952
2992
3011
3041
3069
Paving mixtures and block
Asphalt felts and coatings
Lubricating oils and greases
Tires and inner tubes
Rubber and plastics hose and belting
Fabricated rubber products, n.e.c.
3111
3131
Leather tanning and finishing
Boot and shoe cut stock and findings
3251
3253
3255
3259
3261
3262
3271
3272
3273
3275
3281
3296
Brick and structural clay tile
Ceramic wall and floor tile
Clay refractories
Structural clay products, n.e.c.
Vitreous plumbing fixtures
Vitreous china food utensils
Concrete block and brick
Concrete products
Ready mixed concrete
Gypsum products
Cut stone and stone products
Mineral wool
3357
3411
3425
3429
3431
3432
3433
3441
3442
3443
3444
3446
3448
3449
3465
3466
3493
3494
3495
3496
3497
3498
Nonferrous wire drawing and insulating
Metal cans
Hand saws and saw blades
Hardware, n.e.c.
Metal sanitary ware
Plumbing fixture fittings and brass goods
Nonelectric heating equipment
Fabricated structural metal
Metal doors, sash and trim
Fabricated plate work
Sheet metal work
Architectural and ornamental metalwork
Prefabricated metal buildings
Miscellaneous metal work
Automotive stampings
Metal crowns and closures
Steel springs, except wire
Valves and pipe fittings
Wire springs
Miscellaneous fabricated wire products
Metal foil and leaf
Fabricated pipe and fabricated pipe fittings
3519
3534
3536
3561
Internal combustion engines, n.e.c.
Elevators and moving stairways
Hoists, cranes and monorails
Pumps and pumping equipment
Exhibit 1.
Continued— Final allocation of Producer Price Index industries by stage of process
SIC
Industry
Semifinished processors (cont)
3563
3564
3566
3568
3579
3585
3589
Air and gas compressors
Fans and blowers
Speed changers, drives, and gears
Power transmission equipment, n.e.c.
Office machines, not elsewhere classified, and
typewriters
Refrigeration and heating equipment
Service industry machinery
3612
3613
3621
3622
3623
3629
3639
3641
3643
3644
3645
3646
Transformers
Switchgear and switchboard apparatus
Electric motors and generators
Industrial controls
Welding apparatus, electric
Electrical industrial apparatus, n.e.c.
Household appliances, not elsewhere classified
Electric lamps
Current-carrying wiring devices
Noncurrent-carrying wiring devices
Residential lighting fixtures
Commercial lighting fixtures
3647
3648
3671
3674
3675
3676
3677
3678
3679
3691
3694
3699
Vehicular lighting equipment
Lighting equipment, n.e.c.
Electron tubes, all types
Semiconductors and related devices
Electronic capacitors
Resistors for electronic applications
Electronic coils, transformers, and other inductors
Connectors for electronic applications
Electronic components, n.e.c.
Storage batteries
Electrical equipment for internal combustion engines
Electrical equipment and supplies, n.e.c.
3714
3724
3728
3764
Motor vehicle parts and accessories
Aircraft engines and engine parts
Aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment, n.e.c.
Guided missile and space vehicle propulsion units
and propulsion unit parts
Guided missiles and sp^ce vehicle parts and auxiliary
equipment
3769
3822
3841
3842
3843
3861
Environmental controls
Surgical and medical instruments and apparatus
Surgical, orthopedic and prosthetic appliances and
supplies
Dental equipment and supplies
Photographic equipment and supplies
3915
3962
3963
3964
3991
3993
3995
3996
Jewelers’ materials and lapidary work
Artificial flowers
Buttons
Needles, pins, and fasteners
Brooms and brushes
Signs and advertising displays
Burial caskets
Hard surface floor coverings
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SIC
3999
Industry
Manufacturing industries, n.e.c.
Finished processors
1081
1381
1382
Metal mining services
Drilling oil and gas wells
Oil and gas exploration services
2013
2021
2022
2024
2032
2033
2034
2035
2037
2038
Sausages and other prepared meats
Creamery butter
Natural and processed cheese
Ice cream and frozen desserts
Canned specialties
Canned fruits and vegetables
Dried and dehydrated fruits, vegetables and soup
mixes
Pickles, sauces and salad dressings
Frozen fruits and vegetables
Frozen specialties
2043
2045
2047
2051
2052
2065
2067
2082
2086
2091
2097
2098
2111
2121
2131
Cereal breakfast foods
Blended and prepared flour
Dog, cat, and other pet food
Bread, cake, and related products
Cookies and crackers
Confectionery products
Chewing gum and gum base
Malt beverages
Soft drinks
Canned and cured seafoods
Manufactured ice
Macaroni, spaghetti, and noodles
Cigarettes
Cigars
Chewing and smoking tobacco and snuff
2251
Women’s hosiery knit on 300 needles or more
and women’s knee-high socks
Hosiery, n.e.c.
Knit outerwear
Knit underwear and nightwear
Knitting mills, n.e.c.
Men’s and boys’ suits and coats
Men’s and boys’ shirts (except work shirts)
and nightwear
Men’s and boys’ underwear
Men’s and boys’ neckwear
Men’s and boys’ separate trousers
Men’s and boys’ work clothing
Men’s and boys’ clothing, n.e.c.
Women’s, misses’, and juniors’ blouses, waists
and shirts
2252
2253
2254
2259
2311
2321
2322
2323
2327
2328
2329
2331
2335
2337
2339
2341
2342
2351
Women’s, misses’, and juniors’ dresses
Women’s, misses’, and juniors’ suits and coats
Women’s, misses’, and juniors’ outerwear, n.e.c.
Women’s and children’s underwear and nightwear
Brassieres and allied garments
Millinery
13
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Exhibit 1.
April 1988 •
Stage o f Process Price System for PPI
Continued— Final allocation of Producer Price Index industries by stage of process
SIC
Industry
Finished processors (cont)
2363
2369
Hats and caps, except millinery
Girls’, children’s, and infants’ dresses, blouses
and shirts
Girls’, children’s, and infants’ coats and suits
Girls’, children’s, and infants’ outerwear, n.e.c.
2371
2381
2384
2385
2386
2387
2389
2391
2392
Fur goods
Fabric dress and work gloves
Robes and dressing gowns, except children’s
Waterproof outer garments
Leather and sheep lined clothing
Apparel belts
Apparel and accessories, n.e.c.
Curtains and draperies
Housefumishings n.e.c.
2451
2511
2512
2514
2515
2521
2522
2542
2591
2599
Mobile homes
Wood household furniture, except upholstered
Upholstered wood household furniture
Metal household furniture
Mattresses, bedsprings and sleep furniture
Wood office furniture
Nonwood office furniture
Metal partitions and fixtures
Drapery hardware and blinds and shades
Furniture and fixtures, n.e.c.
2647
2648
2731
2771
Sanitary paper products
Stationery products
Book publishing
Greeting card publishing
2841
2842
Soap and other detergents
Specialty cleaning, polishing and sanitation
preparations
Toilet preparations
2352
2361
2844
2999
3021
3142
3143
3144
3149
3151
3161
3171
3172
3199
3268
3421
3482
3483
3484
3489
Petroleum and coal products, n.e.c.
Rubber and plastic footwear
House slippers
Men’s footwear
Women’s footwear
Footwear, except rubber, n.e.c.
Leather gloves and mittens
Luggage
Women’s and children’s handbags and purses
Personal leather goods, except women’s handbags
and purses
Leather goods, n.e.c.
Pottery products, n.e.c., including fine eathenware
food utensils
Cutlery
Small arms ammunition, 30 mm and under
Ammunition, except small arms, n.e.c.
Small arms, 30 mm and under
Ordnance and accessories, n.e.c.
14
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SIC
Industry
3511
3523
3524
3531
3532
3533
3535
3537
3541
3542
3546
3547
3549
Turbines and turbine generator sets
Farm machinery and equipment
Lawn and garden equipment
Construction machinery
Mining machinery and equipment
Oilfield and gasfield machinery and equipment
Conveyor and conveying equipment
Industrial trucks and tractors
Machine tools, metal cutting types
Metal forming machine tools
Power driven hand tools
Rolling mill machinery
Metalworking machinery, n.e.c.
3551
3552
3553
3554
3555
3559
3567
3569
3573
3574
3576
3581
3582
3586
Food products machinery
Textile machinery
Woodworking machinery
Paper industries machinery
Printing trades machinery
Special industry machinery, n.e.c.
Industrial process furnaces and ovens
General industrial machinery, n.e.c.
Electronic computing equipment
Calculating and accounting machines
Scales and balances except laboratory
Automatic merchandising machines
Commercial laundry equipment
Measuring and dispensing pumps
3631
3632
3633
3634
3635
3636
3651
3652
3661
3662
3692
3693
Household cooking equipment and parts
Household refrigerators and freezers
Household laundry equipment
Electric housewares and fans
Household vaccum cleaners
Sewing machines
Radio and tv’s, phonographs, and related equipment
Phonograph records and prerecorded tapes
Telephone and telegraph apparatus
Radio and television communication equipment
Primary batteries, dry and wet
X-ray and electromedical equipment
3711
3713
3715
3716
3721
3731
3732
3743
3751
3761
3792
3795
3799
Motor vehicles and passenger car bodies
Truck and bus bodies
Truck trailers
Motor homes built on purchased chassis
Aircraft
Ship building and repairing
Boat building and repairing
Railroad equipment
Motorcycles, bicycles, and parts
Guided missiles and space vehicles
Travel trailers and campers
Full-tracked armored vehicles
Transportation equipment, n.e.c.
3811
3823
3824
Engineering and scientific instruments
Industrial process control instruments
Fluid meters and counting devices
Exhibit 1.
Continued— Final allocation of Producer Price Index industries by stage of process
SIC
Industry
Finished processors (cont)
3825
3829
3832
3851
3873
Electrical measuring and integrating instruments
Measuring and controlling devices, not elsewhere
classified
Optical and analytical instruments
Ophthalmic goods
Watches, clocks, and watchcases
3911
Jewelry, precious metal
n.e.c. == not elsewhere classified.
SIC
3914
3931
3942
3944
3949
3951
3952
3961
Industry
Silverware, plated ware and stainless steel ware
Musical instruments
Dolls
Games, toys, and children’s vehicles, except dolls
and bicycles
Sporting and athletic goods, n.e.c.
Pens, mechanical pencils, and parts
Lead pencils and art goods
Costume jewelry and costume novelties, except
precious metal
mfpm == manufactured from purchased materials.
2. The proportionate use of that commodity by the indus
tries in the stage of process, multiplied by
3. The net input ratio for that commodity in that stage of
process.
were motor vehicle consumption data from the Com
merce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis and
petroleum consumption data from the Department of
Energy.
If one is willing to assume that the industries within the
relevant stage of process consume all specific products
within a four-digit sic classification proportionately, the
total four-digit commodity index could be used directly in
calculating an input index. In many cases, that is a reason
able assumption. While the ppi industry index system does
not currently contain indexes that are explicitly “wherever
made,” the primary products commodity indexes published
below the four-digit sic industry indexes in table 5 of Pro
ducer Price Indexes cover the great majority of commodity
shipments. These indexes thus can be used in constructing
input indexes without substantially compromising coverage
in most cases.
In reviewing the input consumption patterns of stages of
process, it was discovered that the consumption of specific
products within a general commodity classification was
sometimes not proportionate. As an example, within the
general classification of motor vehicles, automobiles are
more likely to go to personal consumption expenditures and
heavy trucks are more likely to go to capital investment.
Because the potential for these types of differentiations is
virtually endless, the ppi design adopted two guiding princi
ples in looking below the four-digit sic commodity classifi
cation structure:
The final input indexes thus consist of sic-based commodity
indexes at the four-digit level, and occasionally lower levels
aggregated by net input weights on a 1982 value basis.
Input indexes are published for the stages of process be
yond the crude category and for final demand. As in the case
of the output indexes, a variety of subindexes are also pub
lished separating durables and nondurables and other signif
icant product types. The input indexes appear as table 13 of
Producer Price Indexes, an example of which appears here
as table 5.
It should be noted that the subdivisions in the input index
design are commodity classifications, which are somewhat
different than the industry classifications in the output index
design. For example, an industry that produces mostly
durable products but some nondurable products will reside
completely within durables on the output index structure. In
the input index structure, however, the durable products will
appear under durables and the nondurable products will
appear under nondurables.
• A breakout below the four-digit sic level will occur
only when there is clear evidence of different usage
patterns and the difference has substantial effect. The
effect judgment is subjective but, in general, the ppi
design attempted to avoid introducing index complex
ity when it was unlikely to affect the published input
index.
• Breakouts will be based on objective data to the maxi
mum possible extent. This required use of multiple
additional data sources, the most important of which
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Comparison with current indexes
The new industry-based stage of process system outlined
above currently is being published along with the traditional
commodity-based stage of process structure which has been
the focus of Producer Price Index presentation and analysis.
The new index system initially cannot be seasonally ad
justed because sufficient historical data do not yet exist to
allow accurate adjustment.
Clearly, there are significant differences between the
current commodity-based stage of process system and the
new industry-based system. The most obvious, of course, is
that the new industry model has four stages of process while
the commodity model has three. The most profound con
ceptual difference, however, is that the industry-based sys
tem is a transaction flow model of input/output indexes
15
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Stage o f Process Price System for PPI
while the traditional stage of process system is a commodity
transformation model based on degree of fabrication and
end use.
The new industry-based stage of process system allocates
industries to one, and only one, processing stage. It then
measures price change of inputs to and outputs from the set
of industries composing each stage of process. The
traditional commodity stage of process structure allocates
commodities based on their degree of fabrication and end
use. The indexes in the traditional stage of process structure
are not specifically designed as either input or output
indexes.
Nevertheless, these two assignment mechanisms lead to
similar results in many cases. Wheat, flour, and bread are
assigned to sequential processing stages in both the tradi
tional commodity and new industry stage of process struc
tures. This reflects both the degrees of fabrication in the
production of bread and the way transactions actually flow
between industries in the economy.
However, one way in which differences may occur can be
seen in the treatment of food grains, such as wheat versus
feed grains such as com. In an index structure based on
degree of fabrication, food grains and feed grains look sim
ilar. They are both raw agricultural products.
On the other hand, food grains and feed grains are not the
same in terms of the way they get to final consumption.
Wheat, for example, takes the direct route of wheat-flourbread mentioned above. In contrast, com goes to final
demand through an additional step because it is primarily
input to livestock production, another raw agricultural
industry.
In the traditional commodity system, food grains, feed
grains, and livestock appear at the same stage of process
because they are all raw agricultural products. In the
industry-based stmcture, food grains and livestock appear at
the same stage of process because their paths to final de
mand are similar, and feed grains appear at an earlier stage
of process. This reflects the fact that changes in feed grain
prices are likely to take longer to get to final demand than
would changes in food grain prices.
These important differences in how the new industrybased and the traditional commodity-based stage of process
systems are constructed make it difficult to match up in
dexes from the two systems. In the case of Finished Goods,
the third stage in the traditional commodity system, a close
match in the industry system does exist, however. The tradi
tional Finished Goods index explicitly defines as finished
products those products that go to final demand for personal
consumption expenditures and capital investment. The
index weights within Finished Goods reflect commodity
usage by personal consumption expenditures and capital
investment. That is the same conceptual basis as for the
industry-based input index for final demand.
This is not to say that the industry-based input index to
final demand will behave precisely the same as the current
Finished Goods index. The calculation methods are some
what different and coverage varies to some extent. The
overall conceptual designs of the input index to final de
m and and the Finished Goods index, how ever, are essen
tially the same.
At the earlier stages of process in the commodity system
there are no precise industry-based analogs. The current ppi
Crude Materials index, for example, is neither a conceptual
nor operational match to the crude processors output index
in the industry system. Neither does the commodity-based
Intermediate Materials, Supplies, and Components index
have a precise industry-based equivalent.
The major analytic innovation of the industry-based stage
of process system, therefore, resides not at the end point,
which is similar to the commodity system, but in the index
sequences that trace price flows through the economy. In
these areas, the precise definition of input and output in
dexes, the rigorous allocation of industries based on inter
industry shipment flows, and the use of net input and net
output weighting, can be expected to substantially enhance
the analytic power of the Bureau’s stage of process system
for producer prices.
1 John F. Early, “Improving the measurement o f producer price change,”
Price Index Framework,” July 1980; and “Recommendations For Detailed
Classification and Aggregation Structure For The Revised Producer Price
Index In a Stage-Of-Process Framework,” May 1983.
M o n th ly L a b o r R e v i e w , April 1978, pp. 7 -1 5 .
2 William Nordhaus and John Shoven, “Inflation 1973: The Year of
Infamy,” C h a lle n g e , May/June 1974, pp. 14-22.
3 Two papers prepared by the Washington-based consulting firm of Joel
Popkin and Company contributed significantly to the conceptual develop
ment o f the industry-based stage of process design: “A Stage-Of-Process
16
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4
For a discussion of the concepts and methodology o f industry net
output indexes, see Early, “Improving the measurement”; and b l s H a n d
b o o k o f M e th o d s , Bulletin 2285 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1988), chapter
7, “Producer Prices.”
revision provides more accuracy
in the medical care services component
cpi
Expenditures dropped because of increases
in employer- or government-financed payments;
health insurance premiums are now allocated
to appropriate commodities and services;
unique categories for professional services
and hospital and related services were created
In a K a y F o r d
and
P h il ip S t u r m
The medical care services component of the Consumer Price
Index ( c p i ) underwent several changes when the c p i was
revised. We analyze these changes in expenditure weights,
definitions, and structure of the component. We also discuss
the methodology (pricing and treatment of quality changes)
and data sources used for construction of the medical care
services component.
In January 1987, the Bureau of Labor Statistics began
publication of the revised Consumer Price Index ( c p i ). The
major objectives of this revision were (1) to update the
content and weights of the market basket of goods and
services priced for the c p i ; ( 2 ) to update the statistical sam
ple of urban areas, outlets, and uijique items used in calcu
lating the c p i ; (3) to improve the statistical methods used for
computing a number of c pi components; and (4) to improve
operating procedures.1 This article describes the changes in
consumption patterns, definitions, methodology, and data
sources of the medical care services component of the re
vised CPI.
Expenditure weights
The expenditure weights for the c p i -u (all urban con
sumers) and c p i -w (urban wage earners and clerical workers)
were developed from the Consumer Expenditure Survey.
Ina Kay Ford and Philip Sturm are economists in the Office o f Prices and
Living Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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The revised c p i expenditure weights are based on Consumer
Expenditure Survey data for 1982-84 and replace the ex
penditures for 1972-73 that were used in the c pi from 1978
through 1986.
The Consumer Expenditure Survey is composed of two
separate surveys— an interview survey and a diary survey—
both conducted by the Bureau of the Census for b l s . The
interview survey is used to collect data for expenditures that
respondents can remember fairly accurately for periods of
approximately 3 months. The diary survey is designed to
obtain expenditure information for small, frequently pur
chased items that consumers tend to forget. Approximately
5,000 consumer units are contacted each year for each type
of survey.2
All of the categories under medical care services had their
expenditure weights calculated from the interview survey.
These expenditures reflect both out-of-pocket expenses not
covered by insurance and health insurance premiums paid
by survey households.
The 1982-84 Consumer Expenditure Survey data showed
that as a proportion of total consumption, the medical care
services component was smaller than that of the 1972-73
survey. This decline results from changes in the ways con
sumers pay for medical care. Major medical expenses very
frequently are partially paid for (and sometimes fully paid
for) by health insurance, and many insurance premiums are
fully or partially paid by employers or by government. Be-
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988
CPi
Revision o f Medical Services Component
cause the c pi reflects only consumer expenditures, em
ployer- and government-provided benefits are not included.
In the decade between the two expenditure surveys, the
number of these third party-provided benefits increased.3
During this period, the percentage of full-time workers cov
ered by plans that were fully employer-paid rose from 71
percent in 1971-72 to 73 percent in 1982.4 Thus, while
medical care prices have risen at a rapid rate over the past
decade, average consumer unit expenditures on medical
care rose less rapidly due to employer- and governmentprovided benefits.
Table 1 compares relative importances for the old series,
based on the 1972-73 Consumer Expenditure Survey, up
dated by price change through December 1986, to those for
the current c p i , based on the 1982-84 Consumer Expendi
ture Survey, updated by price change to December 1986.
For some items, changes in relative importance between the
old series and the current index arise not only from the
previously mentioned changes in insurance coverage levels
and distribution of premium payments between employer
and employee, but also from definitional changes.
Health insurance defined
A number of definitional changes have been introduced in
the medical care area; the most significant of these relate to
the way health insurance premiums in the c p i are represented
in the expenditure weights. While this change has no effect
on the final index result and is mathematically equivalent to
the former procedure, it is believed that the new structure
provides a clearer picture of the role of health insurance in
the c p i . Health insurance represents only expenditures by
consumers for premiums— employer contributions are, of
course, not included. Insurance premiums can be viewed as
purchasing (1) the medical care for which benefits are paid,
and (2) the services of the insurance carrier in administering
the policy. This second element has been labeled retained
earnings and refers to the operating cost and any profit of the
insurance carrier.
In the old series c p i , the entire insurance premium was
classified as health insurance. However, within health in
surance, it was broken into many subcategories for pric
ing— one for each type of benefit paid and one for the
retained earnings associated with each type of benefit. The
price movement for a health insurance benefit stratum (for
example, insurance-paid hospital rooms) was the same as
the price movement for the corresponding medical item in
the c pi (hospital rooms). The price movement for a retained
earnings stratum was the combination of price change for
the relevant medical care item and an estimate of changes in
retained earnings as a proportion of benefits. In the revision,
instead of using the price change for hospital rooms (or any
other medical item) for both the hospital room out-ofpocket-paid index and the hospital-room-paid-by-insurance
index, the expenditures for the two types of hospital room
payments are combined in a single index. Thus, the expend
18
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iture weight for each medical care item is the combination
of the direct out-of-pocket expense for the item and the
indirect expense for the item paid from consumer-purchased
health insurance.
The current c p i item labeled health insurance, which is
defined as the portion of premium payments retained by the
insurer in the form of operating expenses and profit, repre
sents the weighting together of the retained earnings of the
following carrier groupings:5
Percentage of
health insurance as
o f December 1986
Grouping
Commercial C a rrie rs.......................
Blue Cross/Blue S h ie ld ................... .......................
Health Maintenance
O rganizations................................
Other (Medicare Part B and
Medicare supplement
policies) ................................
26
Im provem ents in refining the health insurance com ponent
were obtained through expanding the allocation of health
insurers’ benefit payments.6 The following tabulation shows
the allocation of health insurance benefit payments and per
cent of total premium payments represented by retained
earnings.
B lu e C r o s s /
C o m m e r c ia l
M e d ic a r e
B lu e S h ie ld
C a r r ie r s 1
P art B 2
Hospital room .............. . .
Ancillary services . . . . . .
27.5
25.2
21.6
19.9
—
11.0
17.9
Outpatient services . . . . .
Physicians’ services . . . . .
Other provider’s fees
(physical therapy,
psychiatry, and
so forth) ....................
Prescription drugs . . . .
Eye c a r e .........................
Nursing home charges .
Dental b en efits..............
Retained earnings . . . .
10.8
25.6
8.4
23.8
24.4
69.1
4.4
38.1
2.4
2. 9
.2
.2
1.8
3. 4
.8
1.9
—
6.5
7.9
4. 4
1.5
.3
5.2
9.3
.3
6.9
16.4
_
—
___
—
___
—
H M O ’s
1 Also used to allocate Medicare supplement policies because no other
data were available.
2 Medicare Part A (hospitalization) is not relevant to the cpi because it
is an entitlement program paid through payroll deduction as opposed to
insurance or a prepayment plan that consumers purchase by paying premi
ums, that is, Medicare— Part B— Medical Insurance.
N ote: Dashes indicate data are not available.
Health insurance pricing
Prior to the 1964 c pi revision, health insurance premiums
were directly priced as a fixed amount of protection for the
individual consumer by pricing the most widely held Blue
Cross/Blue Shield family policy being sold to consumers.
Using this method entailed a number of problems involving
quality changes over time.
Table 1. Relative importance of the medical care services
component in the Consumer Price Index, U.S. city average,
December 1986
[In percent]
Item and g ro up
Medical care se rvice s..........
Professional medical
services ........................
Physicians’ services2 ..
Dental services3 ..........
Eye care4 .....................
Other professional
medical services . . .
Services by other medi
cal professionals5 . .
Unpriced items ............
Other medical care
services ........................
Hospital and related
s e rv ic e s .....................
Hospital rooms6 ..........
Other inpatient hospital
services7 ...................
Outpatient services8 . .
Other hospital and med
ical care services . . .
Unpriced items ............
Health in suran ce ..............
Health insurance9 ............
A ll urban
consum ers
(cpi-u )
(i)
Urban wage
earners and
clerical
w orkers
(CPI-W)
(D
A ll urban
consum ers
(cpi-u )
o ld series
Urban wage
earners and
clerical
w orke rs
(CPI-W)
o ld series
4.663
3.975
5.738
5.112
2.926
1.554
.866
.343
2.476
1.319
.773
.286
2.600
1.327
.950
2.468
1.310
.877
.164
.099
—
.277
—
—
1.516
.608
1.335
.580
.567
.337
.487
.265
.004
—
.221
.003
—
.163
—
.252
_
_
.047
.029
3.138
2.644
.564
.262
.477
.222
—
—
.299
.003
2.574
.252
.002
2.168
—
—
1 These relative importances reflect corrections to the originally published December 1986
values. See "Relative Importance of Components in the Consumer Price Index, 1987,” for further
details.
2 Benefits provided by consumer-paid health insurance constitute 35.1 percent of the relative
importance, c pi-u .
3 Benefits provided by consumer-paid health insurance constitute 8.7 percent of the relative
importance, cpi-u .
4 Benefits provided by consumer-paid health insurance constitute 0.7 percent of the relative
importance, cpi-u .
3 Benefits provided by consumer-paid health insurance constitute 24.7 percent of the relative
importance, c pi-u .
6 Benefits provided by consumer-paid health insurance constitute 61.0 percent of the relative
importance, cpi-u .
7 Benefits provided by consumer-paid health insurance constitute 62.6 percent of the relative
importance, c pi-u .
8 Benefits provided by consumer-paid health insurance constitute 57.0 percent of the relative
importance, c pi-u .
9 Only health insurance premiums paid by the consumer are included in the c p i . The health
insurance relative importance includes only that portion of the premium that is retained by the
insurance carrier for administrative cost and profit, 9.7 percent of the total premiums for the
cpi-u . The portions of the premium that are paid as benefits have been assigned to the relevant
medical care categories.
No t e :
Dashes indicate data are not available.
Four basic factors affect changes in the cost of health
insurance premiums: (1) increased or decreased medical
care costs; (2) changes in health insurance provider adminis
trative costs, surplus requirements, and profit (for commer
cial carriers); (3) changes in the benefits covered by health
insurance policies; and (4) utilization changes. Utilization is
the frequency of claims made under a health insurance pol
icy. For example, during an epidemic, the frequency of
hospitalization and the number of patient-practitioner con
tacts would likely go up. This increase in claims changes the
policy utilization rate and might cause premium increases.
Changes in the costs of covered services and in retained
earnings rates are price changes that should be reflected in
the index, whereas changes in the other two factors reflect
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quality and quantity changes and should not be reflected in
the cpi. Changes in coverage clearly affect the quality of the
policy. Utilization changes are a redefinition of the risk
covered by a policy, and thus are also a change in the quality
of the policy that should not be reflected in the cpi.
In pricing premiums directly, the Bureau found it impos
sible to account for quality differences because of changes
in the benefits provided by policies and in the utilization of
benefits. These problems led the Bureau to switch to the
current indirect method of pricing health insurance in the
1964 revision of the cpi. This indirect approach enables the
Bureau to reflect in the cpi an estimate of the impact on
premium levels of changes in the prices of medical care
services covered by health insurance policies, as well as
changes in the costs of administering the policies and main
taining reserves and as appropriate, profits. Directly pricing
policies would not enable bls to measure constant quality
policy premium changes accurately, because the Bureau has
not been able to develop the methodology to factor out of
premium changes the impact of changed levels of coverage
and utilization. Recent research has made some progress,
but direct measurement remains elusive. (See appendix.)
Price movement over time for the health insurance item in
the cpi is determined by the following procedures.
Retained earnings ratio. The Bureau obtains calendar
year data for premium income, benefit payments, and re
tained earnings for commercial carriers. For each year, the
ratio of retained earnings to benefits is calculated, yielding
a retained earnings ratio. Next, the latest year’s ratio is
divided by the previous year’s ratio, and the percent change
in the ratios is calculated. Finally, the percent change is
allocated into 12 equal portions using the geometric mean,
and the change is reflected over 1 year.7 This method en
ables bls to measure the change in price caused by changing
retention margins in monthly increments, which is prefer
able to reflecting the entire annual change in only 1 month.
A similar method is used for Blue Cross/Blue Shield;
however, instead of annual data, bls obtains quarterly data
and calculates a four-quarter moving average of these data.
For example, the Bureau would calculate a retained earnings
ratio using combined data for all four quarters of 1986 and
divide it by the ratio calculated from the last quarter of 1985
combined with the first three quarters of 1986. The percent
change between the former and latter ratios is allocated
equally for the next 3 months using the geometric mean.
Insurance price relatives. The total price movement for
each health insurance stratum is estimated using the product
of two relatives. The first relative is the change in the re
tained earnings ratio mentioned previously. The second rel
ative reflects the price change for each of the items to which
benefits were separately allocated for Blue Cross/Blue
Shield and commercial carriers. (See previous text tabula
tion showing allocation of health insurance benefit pay19
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
cpi
Revision o f Medical Services Component
ments.) For example, within Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the
physician services category is moved by the product of the
relatives for physicians’ services and Blue Cross/Blue
Shield retained earnings. These two relatives are both re
quired, because retained earnings levels change with both
the change in benefits paid and the change in the unit cost
of administering these benefits. This process yields a meas
ure of price change for insurance of constant coverage and
utilization. That is, changes in benefit coverage and utiliza
tion levels will generally be offset by compensating pre
mium changes, and thus, not significantly affect retention
rates. Implicit in the process also is an assumption that the
level of service from the individual carriers is strictly a
function of the benefits paid. Other changes in the amount
of service provided for policyholders, such as more conve
nient claims handling, will affect the index, but the affects
are probably small.
Data changes. Since 1964, the Bureau had been using
Health Care Financing Administration data provided by
Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Health Insurance Associa
tion of America to compute the retained earnings adjustment
for the health insurance component of the c p i . In recent
years, the Health Care Financing Administration data for
commercial carriers have shown inconsistencies, reflecting
many revisions and changes in methodology. Both the com
mercial carrier data and the Blue Cross/Blue Shield data
obtained from the Health Care Financing Administration
suffered from lengthy lags between the reference period and
release of the data. These limitations on the data led b l s to
investigate alternative data sources.
After careful study, the Bureau determined that alterna
tive data sources would be used. The Argus Health Chart,
published by the National Underwriters, was an improved
data source for commercial insurance carriers. Argus uses a
large sample and has a shorter lag for data release than the
Health Care Financing Administration. Also, the data used
are those the insurance companies are legally required to
report to the State insurance regulatory agencies as a legal
requirement. In addition, b l s could improve the timeliness
of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield retained earnings information
by obtaining data directly from Blue Cross/Blue Shield on
a quarterly basis, rather than obtaining it annually through
the Health Care Financing Administration.
Pricing medical services
A sample of 91 urban areas was selected to represent all
urban areas in the country. Within each of these areas, the
Census Bureau conducts a Point of Purchase Survey for b l s ,
which identifies not only how much consumer units spend
for each category of consumption, but also where they make
the purchase. From this list, b l s selects a sample of medical
service providers for each medical service item category.
The process used by the Bureau in the selection of a
unique service for direct pricing from a medical provider is
20
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called disaggregation. To disaggregate, b l s field representa
tives start with a general entry-level category, such as physi
cians’ services, and successively narrow the definition stage
by stage, using probability selection methods based on rev
enues and volume information supplied by the respondents.
This process yields a representative sample of the variety of
services provided, and the resulting price index is, thus, an
accurate reflection of price change for the entry-level cate
gory.
Continuing with the physician services’ example, 10
physician service categories have been identified for the c p i :
general medical practice; pediatrics; obstetrics and gynecol
ogy; allergy; surgery; psychiatry; orthopedics; cardiology;
ear, nose, and throat; and other specialties. The category
from which specific services are selected for pricing varies
with the specialty of the physician. Within each of the 10
categories are a number of preselected services representa
tive of the category: 15 services for general medical practice
(8 types of visits and 7 procedures), and at least 6 for each
of the remaining categories. Each service has an accompa
nying definition that the field representative may adjust ac
cording to a specific physician’s procedures.
Within each physician’s office, the field representative
selects, through disaggregation, the specific service to be
priced on a continuing basis. To minimize the burden on the
physicians of determining the actual sales or volume of their
services, the field representative disaggregates through a
ranking process. This ranking process is an ordering of
eligible services provided by the physician from largest to
smallest in terms of revenue. For example, at a general
practitioner’s office, if we were selecting a quote from
among the eight preselected types of visits, the selection
process would be as follows: the physician ranks the eight
types of visits by revenue; then, using a ranking value table
and a random number table, the field representative selects
the type of service to be priced. The following tabulation
illustrates this process:
C u m u la S e le c tio n v a lu e
P e r fo r m R a n k in g
T y p e o f v is it
Office visit, b r ie f..............
Office visit, limited
service ...........................
Office visit, comprehen
sive service
Hospital visit, initial
c a r e ..................................
Hospital visit, subsequent
c a r e ..................................
Home visit, brief
service ...........................
Emergency department
visit ................................
Consultation
com prehensive..............
tiv e
v is it
v a lu e
v a lu e
Yes
30
30
Yes
20
50
Yes
15
65
Yes
10
75
Yes
10
85
Yes
10
95
Yes
5
100
(fro m r a n d o m
n u m b e r ta b le )
No
96
Exhibit 1.
Definition of published medical care service indexes
Item
Old series
New series
Medical care services
Professional and hospital services; health in
surance imputation
Professional and hospital services; health
insurance imputation and dispensing of
eyeglasses and outpatient services at
hospitals.
Professional medical services
(old title: Professional serv
ices)
Physicians; dentists; other professionals, such as
optometrists, ophthalmologists, podiatrists,
chiropractors.
Physicians; dentists; other professionals,
such as optometrists, ophthalmologists,
opticians, psychologists, and therapists.
Physicians’ services
Includes all services by medical physicians in
private practice, other than dental and eye
care, that are billed by the physician. In
cludes house, office, clinic, and hospital vis
its by general practitioners, internists, os
teopaths, and other specialists. Excludes
podiatrists and other medical practitioners
who are not m d ’s . Ophthalmologists are in
cluded in other professional services.
Includes all services by medical physi
cians in private practice, other than
dental and eye care, that are billed by
the physician. Includes house, office,
clinic, and hospital visits by general
practitioners, internists, osteopaths, and
other specialists. Excludes podiatrists
and other medical practitioners who are
not MD’s. Ophthalmologists are in
cluded in Eye care.
Dental services
Includes dental services performed by dentists,
oral or maxillofacial surgeons, orthodontists,
periodontists, or other dental specialists in
group or individual practice. Some of the
specific services included are cleanings, ex
tractions, fillings, orthodontic work, peri
odontal treatment, bonding, dental sealants,
treatment for temporomandibular joint prob
lems, root canal therapy, dentures, bridges,
crowns, and orthognathic surgery. Treatment
can be provided in the office or in the
hospital.
Includes dental services performed by
dentists, oral or maxillofacial surgeons,
orthodontists, periodontists, or other
dental specialists in group or individual
practice. Some of the specific services
included are cleanings, extractions, fill
ings, orthodontic work, periodontal
treatment, bonding, dental sealants,
treatment for temporomandibular joint
problems, root canal therapy, dentures,
bridges, crowns and orthognathic
surgery. Treatment can be provided in
the office or in the hospital.
Other professional services
All services performed by other medical profes
sionals, such as podiatrists, chiropractors,
psychologists; eye care provided by optome
trists and ophthalmologists.
Discontinued.
Eye care
New index
Services provided by optometrists, opthalmologists, and opticians. Includes dis
pensing of eyeglasses and surgical pro
cedures performed by ophthalmologists
in or out of the office.
Services by other medical pro
fessionals
New index
Includes services performed by other pro
fessionals such as, psychologists, chiro
practors, therapists, and nurse practi
tioners in or out of the office.
Other medical care services
Hospital services, nursing homes, and health in
surance imputation.
Discontinued.
Hospital and related medical
services (old title: Hospital
and other medical services)
Hospital services that include hospital room and
board, inpatient services, emergency room
visits, and nursing home care.
Hospital services that include hospital
room and board, inpatient services, and
outpatient services that include emer
gency room, and nursing home care.
Hospital room
Room and board for any type of hospital room,
such as private, semiprivate, routine nursery,
Room and board for any type of hospital
room, such as private, semiprivate, rou-
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21
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Exhibit 1.
April 1988 •
cpi
Revision o f Medical Services Component
Continued— Definition of published medical care service indexes
Item
Old series
New series
ward, intensive care, or coronary care that is
billed by the hospital.
tine nursery, ward, intensive care, or
coronary care that is billed by the hos
pital.
Other hospital and medical care
services
Inpatient hospital services such as laboratory
tests, radiology, operating room, pharmacy,
and emergency room that are billed by the
hospital and nursing home care.
Discontinued.
Other inpatient services
New index
Hospital services for inpatients, such as
pharmacy, laboratory tests, radiology,
and operating room that are billed by
the hospital and nursing home care.
Outpatient services
New index
Hospital services for outpatients, such as
laboratory tests, radiology, short stay
units, ambulatory surgery, physical
therapy, and emergency room that are
billed by the hospital.
“Consultation comprehensive” is selected, because its cu
mulative ranked value (100) is the smallest number greater
than or equal to the selection value (96), the number selected
from a table of random numbers. If ranking of services is not
possible, then equal probability is used to select the service
for pricing.
The following is an example of service selection for a
hospital price quotation. In each hospital, fees for hospital
rooms and impatient and outpatient ancillary services are
priced. The field representative determines, through proba
bility methods, the category of inpatient ancillary service as
well as the specific services to be priced for each hospital.
For instance, to determine the specific hospital room serv
ices that will be priced over time, the field representative
obtains information about fees for standard rooms (semipri
vate, ward, nursery, and so on) and special care units (inten
sive care, coronary care, and so on) from the hospital ad
ministration. Using this information and probability tables,
the representative may select semiprivate room. The field
representative then further defines the service by identifying
the type of patient in the room, the bath facilities available,
the room location, and other services included with the room.
Other inpatient hospital services are similarly selected.
For example, preliminary disaggregation may select, first,
the broad category “radiology” (x-ray); then, the more
specific category, “diagnostic radiology.” The next stage of
disaggregation may select “skull examination” from a list of
specific types of diagnostic radiology. One more disaggre
gation step will select the type of skull examination from a
list provided by the respondent indicating the four or five
most frequently performed tests. Finally, the field represen
tative notes the additional factors, such as the length of
treatment and the number of personnel required, to render
the final definition of the service to be priced.
22
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Pricing improvements
Prior to the 1987 revision, the collected medical care
service prices represented the paying patient rate for profes
sional services and the published charges for hospitals.
However, because professional and hospital-related services
were used to move the index weights for both out-of-pocket
expenses not covered by insurance and insurance benefit
payments, the Bureau decided that it would be appropriate
to determine if alternate fees were available for such priced
services. These alternative fees include private insurance,
Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Medicare, and preferred provider
organizations. To determine the availability of alternative
fees, the Bureau conducted a study during 1985 in eight
pricing areas to identify the prevalence of medical care
service providers charging different rates to patients covered
by health insurance. Where alternative rates existed, the
study determined if the rate varied with the insurance
provider, and where it did, it was determined if such rates
would be readily available to the Bureau each price collec
tion month. Separate Medicaid or other public assistance
rates were not considered eligible because they are govern
ment subsidized and apply to individuals and households
who must meet certain income requirements. Physicians
were the only respondents to the survey that reported avail
able alternative fees for selected services, with enough fre
quency to make selection of payment basis part of the disag
gregation process. During 1987, b l s will again be surveying
hospitals and dentists to identify the availability of multiple
rates for the specific services selected for pricing. If the
results warrant, b l s will add selection of payment basis to
the initiation procedures for hospitals, dentists, or both dur
ing 1988.
To ensure that the c p i properly reflects the marketplace on
a continuing basis, a Point of Purchase Survey is conducted
in one-fifth of the cpi’ s 91 pricing areas each year. From
these surveys, a new outlet sample is selected and new
unique items identified for pricing. Thus, over a 5-year
period, the entire cpi outlet sample and unique item sample
are updated.
Restructuring published indexes
As part of the cpi revision, bls created three new indexes
by separating previously combined items, for example, eye
care from other professional services, and inpatient and
outpatient treatment from other hospital and medical care
services.
In exhibit 1, definitions of the indexes in the old and
revised cpi are given and the new and discontinued series are
indicated. A separate health insurance index is not pub
lished, as it is not directly priced and the data are available
only with a significant lag.
Exhibit 1 reflects a restructuring that provides unique
categories for “professional services” and “hospital and re
lated services.” Eye care (including purchase of eyeglasses
and contact lenses) has been combined with physicians’
services, dental services, and other professional services to
form the “professional medical services” index. In the for
mer cpi, a distinction was made between the purchase price
of eyeglasses and contact lenses (commodities), and the
charge associated with fitting eyeglasses and contact lenses
for the consumer (services). It has grown increasingly more
difficult to separate provider charges into these components
so, in the revised cpi, both eye care commodities and serv
ices are included in a single index in the medical care service
component. Fees for laboratory tests and x-rays have been
moved from professional services and, along with emer
gency room charges, make up the outpatient services cate
gory.
The following tabulation contains the number of current
outlets and price quotes for each of the published medical
care services.
Service
Physicians’ services.........................
Dental services ................................
Eye c a r e .............................................
Other medical professionals ...........
Hospital rooms ................................
Inpatient services..............................
Outpatient services .........................
Outlets
536
295
401
382
339
323
317
Quotes
1,099
635
402
392
562
903
354
Quality changes
One of the most difficult conceptual problems faced in
compiling the cpi is to identify accurately and factor out of
price measurement any changes in the quality of priced
items. The Bureau attempts to identify the quality level of
an item by including all of the relevant quality-determining
attributes in the description of each unique item priced. To
determine if a quality change has occurred, the Bureau ob
tains the current specifications for the item, and compares
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them to the previous specifications. When any of these
specifications change, a quality improvement or deteriora
tion may have occurred. As a further aid in identifyng
whether a quality change may have been introduced, the
field representative asks each respondent to identify the
specific cause of any significant price change.
The respondents may identify the change as (1) a pure
price change (2) a change in the characteristics of the cur
rently priced procedure/service, or (3) a combination of the
two. When pricing physicians’ services, for example, if the
description of the item being priced is a limited office visit
for treatment of a sore throat at $35, and the physician
indicates that a rate increase has taken place in the office
visit to $40 and now will also include a throat culture at $15,
making the total cost $55, the following action is taken. The
addition of the throat culture would not be reflected as a
price increase, because it was not in the described service
and would be considered a substitution. The price increase
in the office visit, $35 to $40, would be shown in the current
month’s index. For subsequent pricing comparison, the new
service would include the office visit and throat culture.
Another example where adjustments can be made for
quality differences is the change in a hospital’s average
length of stay. When pricing hospital rooms, the hospital
reports the price of the selected room for 1 day. The hospital
respondent also indicates any additional fees that would
apply to the selected room/patient type. These fees may be
per day (for example, for use of a tv or telephone), or per
admission (for example, for an admission kit or admitting
charge). The hospital also provides an average length of stay
for the type of patient selected or the hospital average. The
length of stay is used to prorate the per-admission charges
and arrive at an average price per day. The price per day for
the cpi, then, includes the base room rate, per day charges,
and prorated charges. When the length of stay changes, the
total price will change, but the cpi will not reflect this as a
price change. An adjustment is made to reflect only the pure
price change. The following is an example of a price change
and a change in length of stay that resulted in an increase of
8 percent being reflected in the index.
February 1987
April 1987
Base room rate .....................
Per day charge for tv ...........
Length of stay .......................
Per-admission, charge for
admission kit .....................
Prorated charge .....................
$210.00
3.00
5 days
$225.00
3.00
4 days
$25.00
5.00
$35.00
8.75
Total price ..............................
$218.00
$236.75
The February 1987 adjusted price for use in calculating the
final change between February and April, based on a 4-day
length of stay is $219.25 ($210 base room rate, $3.00 TV
charge, and $6.25 prorated admission charge for a 4-day
stay).
23
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
cpi
Revision of Medical Services Component
Change reflected in the index:
/ April 1987 price \
\ February 1987 price/
-
1 X 100 = Percent change
(iffi) ■1x100=8percent
Another situation involves hospital inpatient pharmacy
prices. A specific medication and dose is selected for pricing
with the brand (manufacturer) or generic designation indi
cated. Although there is an ongoing discussion in the med
ical community as to what, if any, quality difference exists
between branded and generic medications, if the hospital
switches from brand to generic or vice versa, the change is
reflected in the index. Hospitals normally purchase their
drugs in bulk supply negotiating the best possible price, and
shifts between brands and to or from generic occur with
some frequency in our sample. In the hospital environment,
the patient receives the prescribed drug from the pharmacy,
therefore, inventory prices are compared, regardless of
manufacturer.
Potentially, some quality changes may be counted as
price changes. Items that are not accounted for in the de
scription of the item being priced or that the respondent does
not know about, such as hospital room modifications,
changes in the number and type of nurses that minister to the
patient, or the availability of new equipment, are all likely
to contribute to determining the price level of the room
service priced; these changes are normally treated as price
changes because the Bureau either is not aware of the
change or has no method available to deal with the change.
For instance, it has not been possible to develop a descrip
tion of a hospital semiprivate room that not only includes the
specific room characteristics, but also accounts for all of the
hospital plant, equipment, and staff size factors that con
tribute to the cost of that semiprivate room. Thus, b l s is able
to factor out from price change the inclusion of unlimited
local telephone usage should it now be included in the price
of the room, but the Bureau is not normally able to factor out
the effect on the room charge of a change in the nurse to
patient ratio.
Also, improved technologies and procedures can lead to
quality changes that cannot necessarily be measured by the
Bureau. For instance, many physicians have switched from
using plaster casts for broken bones to a variety of more
comfortable, versatile casts. Inflatable casts are lightweight,
removable, and easily refitted to the limb when swelling
subsides. Cloth casts are lightweight, removable, and
breathable. The new fiberglass casts are much lighter than
plaster and can be immersed in water, so that the patient can
now bathe while wearing a cast. New advances in the devel
opment of porous materials in the manufacturing of pros
thetic implants, as in hip replacement surgery, allow the
bone to grow around the prosthesis. This is not the case with
the nonporous materials that have been commonly used in
hip replacement prosthetic implants. Many doctors believe
this new procedure offers a great improvement in the results
of hip replacement surgery, the outcome being a stronger
hip joint than when the nonporous materials are used. These
are two examples of improved technologies and procedures
that can result in quality changes that currently are hard to
identify and adjust for in the c p i . Not only is it difficult to
identify the change when it occurs, but at present, no
method for assessing the economic value of the change is
available.
Summary
This revision, as in the past, enabled the Bureau to update
medical care service expenditure weights in the c p i , includ
ing a more complete allocation of health insurance premi
ums. Instead of keeping the portion of premiums that go to
benefits under health insurance, the expenditure weight for
each benefit category has been added to the appropriate
out-of-pocket expense. The unpublished health insurance
item represents only the retained earnings portion of premi
ums paid by households. The specific item categories in
cluded in medical care services have also been updated and
expanded. A study conducted during the developmental
phase of the revision indicated that the Bureau should ex
pand the eligible priced rates for physicians in the c p i to
include not only the “self-pay” rate, but also other categories
of payment as well. Another study indicated that the direct
pricing of health insurance is not feasible because of the
difficulty of factoring out from premium changes the effect
of utilization levels and modified coverage. In pricing med
ical care service items, as with other item categories in the
c p i , b l s attempts to exclude from price movement the effect
of quality changes. However, some quality changes are
difficult to assess or are not readily identified, for example,
a change in the ratio of nurses to patients, and such changes
may be reflected as part of the price change movement in the
c p i.
n
-F O O T N O T E S
1 For additional information on the revised c p i , see Charles Mason and
Clifford Butler, “New basket of goods and services being priced in revised
c p i ,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , January 1987, pp. 3 -2 2 .
and insurance policies. In each of the subsequent four interviews, expendi
ture data are collected for the previous 3 months on all varieties o f major
consumer expenses.
2 In the interview survey, the respondent is visited in each o f five consec
utive quarters. The purpose of the first interview is to collect information
on the characteristics of the consumer unit and to establish inventories of
items held by the respondent— properties, vehicles, major durable goods,
The diary survey consists of 2 consecutive week-long records of pur
chases. The goal is to record every purchase made during the 2-week period
by any member of the consumer unit, including spouse or children. The
diary is used primarily to capture information on grocery store purchases,
24
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gasoline, meals, snacks and beverages, many apparel items, and other
small, routine purchases. Spending out of town is not included in the diary
survey. In cases where the same expenditures appear in both surveys, the
data are evaluated to determine which source should be used.
3 Robert M. Frumkin, “Health insurance trends in cost control and cov
erage,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v i e w , September 1986, pp. 3 -8 .
4 Frumkin, “Health insurance trends.”
5 The 1982-84 Consumer Expenditure Survey weights updated by the
changes in retained earnings as reflected in the cpi between 1983 and
December 1986. The retained earnings changes calculated for Commercial
Carriers are also used for Health Maintenance Organizations, as no Health
Maintenance Organization data currently are available. The retained earn
ings changes calculated for Blue Cross/Blue Shield are also used for the
“Other” category, as currently b ls has no data to calculate combined
retained earnings changes for Medicare supplement policies.
6 Health Care Financing Administration-Insurance Benefit Data, Se
lected Health Maintenance Organizations, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, se-
lected plans and Selected Commercial Carriers.
7 A hypothetical example of the calculation of the change in retained
earnings for commercial carriers:
Year
Income
Benefits
Retentions
Retentions— Benefits Ratio
1
2
$100,000
108,000
$ 94,000
100,000
$6,000
8,000
.063830
.080000
Year 2 adjustment for change in retentions:
Year 2 Ratio
.080000
1.253329 relative of change, or 25.33 per.063830
cent, which is the annual increase in retentions for year 2.
(b) Spreading this annual change equally over 12 months is done as fol
lows:
(a) Year 1 Ratio
I 2V I . 253329 = 1.018995 = 1.9 percent per month.
APPENDIX: Test of direct pricing of health insurance policies
During 1984 and 1985, another effort was made to test the
feasibility of directly pricing health insurance policies.
Underlying this direct estimation technique is the basic as
sumption that health insurance premium changes that are to
be reflected in the c p i should include only those items re
lated to changes in the cost of medical care services covered
by health insurance policies, and related to changes in the
health insurance provider’s administrative costs, surplus re
quirements, and profit needs (of commercial carriers).
Changes in premiums related to changes in the utilization of
health insurance benefits or changes in the benefit packages
themselves have to be factored out of this measure, because
they are considered to be changes in the quality of the
policies being priced. An accurate index reflecting only
changes in the cost of covered medical care services and
changes in administrative costs, surplus requirements, and
profit needs of health insurance companies will therefore
require the pricing of constant quality policies (over time).
First, a data collection document (checklist) was created
to describe accurately the numerous variable qualities and
characteristics of the many health insurance policies. The
checklist is used to rate, classify, and differentiate between
the various health insurance policies that were included for
test purposes.
Second, health insurance pricing schedules of insurance
company policies available from a 1976-77 test pricing
program were examined, and a sample of potential respond
ents was picked to be priced. The sample was chosen to
represent commercial carriers and Blue Cross/Blue Shield,
individual and group plans, single and family plans, and to
exhibit different coverages, qualities, price ranges, geo
graphical areas, and so on. Next, sample respondents were
contacted to collect 1984 and earlier pricing and benefit
package information on these (or other similar) policies that
were initiated in the mid-1970’s. From this back-pricing
information, an experimental health insurance index was
constructed for the period 1977-84.
About 70 health insurance companies were contacted in
the survey. Of the 22 companies that provided data, 16
responses representing 95 price quotes were deemed com
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plete. The poor response rate principally reflects the low
number of the 1976-77 initiated policies that were still in
force when the carriers were contacted again in 1984. Com
pleted responses were described on the checklist along with
the annual price trend of the rates they charged to sub
scribers. The reported health insurance premiums used in
this survey were for policies purchased by consumers or
policies purchased at work that reflect combined employer/
employee contributions. The responses consisted of a fairly
representative geographic distribution of policies.
Utilization data, one aspect of quality change, were also
requested from insurance company respondents, but only
five respondents were willing or able to provide limited
utilization data. At this time, appropriate data on utilization
and a methodology to account for utilization (quality)
changes in the direct pricing of health insurance are not
available, and thus are not accounted for in the experimental
index. This lack of data had serious effects on the accept
ability of the direct pricing approach.
Quality changes stemming from changes in benefit pack
ages were handled in two ways. In some cases, insurance
companies indicated the effect on premiums of a given ben
efit change, allowing the Bureau to adjust these policies for
quality changes. In those cases where the impact on premi
ums of benefit changes was unavailable, comparisons for
unadjusted benefit changes were not made. The experimen
tal index is based strictly on the premium changes of policies
that did not change coverage plus those for which premium
adjustments could be made for changes in coverage. Com
parison of the results of the experimental direct price index
for health insurance with the indirect method for the same
period is shown in the following tabulation (December
1977=100).
December
Experimental direct
pricing
1977 ...........................
1978 ...........................
1979 ...........................
100.0
116.8
128.7
Current indirect
method
100.0
110.5
123.6
25
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
1980
1981
1982
1983
.........................
.........................
.........................
..............
164.0
174.4
211.6
246.6
April 1988 •
cpi
Revision o f Medical Services Component
133.7
152.9
177.2
183.9
As is evident in the comparison, the direct pricing method
indicates a faster rate of increase than the indirect method
currently used in the c p i . The differences between the in
dexes resulting from the two pricing methods may be due to
a number of possible causes. Each method measures some
what different things.
The indirect method is based on price changes in current
medical care commodities and services and previous years
retained earnings figures. The experimental direct pricing
method looks at premiums based on current figures, and
even projections by carriers for medical care costs and uti
lization in coming years. Some of the large price jumps in
26
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the direct pricing index between 1979-80 and between
1981-82 were attributed to shifts by many of the healthiest
subscribers out of their current plans into Health Mainte
nance Organizations or lower-cost/higher-deductible plans.
It has been suggested by some insurers that a disproportion
ate number of those who made the shift were the young and
healthy consumers who use less medical care and, hence,
make fewer claims against health insurers or Health Mainte
nance Organizations. This left the affected plans with an
older, less healthy pool of subscribers who made a higher
level of claims. The resulting increased costs for the health
insurers may have caused some of the sharp increases in the
direct pricing index. This type of utilization change is ex
actly the type of quality change that should not be included
in the index, and the inability to obtain data on the premium
impact of these utilization changes is the chief roadblock to
developing a directly priced health insurance index.
No ‘rules of the game’
When Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, there was
some expectation that labor and management would come to an implicit
understanding on the “rules of the game” in labor relations and that the
regulatory apparatus set up in the act would seldom be needed. Fifty years
later, the most striking feature of U.S. labor relations policy is the sheer
volume of regulatory activity. The number of unfair labor practice charges
filed with the National Labor Relations Board ( n l r b ) was 6,807 in 1938,
the year after the Supreme Court upheld the act’s constitutionality, and in
the postwar period the number rose from 5,809 in 1950 to 44,063 in 1980.
— R o b e r t J. F l a n a g a n
Labor Relations and the Litigation Explosion
(Washington, The Brookings Institution, 1987),
p. 24.
Semiconductor productivity gains
linked to multiple innovations
High productivity gains, especially in the 1970’s,
stemmed mainly from rapid improvements in product design
and manufacturing techniques and processes
M
ark
S c o t t S ie l in g
Output per employee hour in the semiconductor industry
rose at an average annual rate of 13.1 percent between 1972
and 1986— a much higher rate than for all manufacturing,
2.4 percent.1 Output increased 21 percent a year and em
ployee hours, 6.9 percent. The long-term trend in productiv
ity masks two distinct periods during which annual rates
changed markedly. The rates moved as follows:
Output per
employee hour
1972-86 ............................
13.1
1972-81 .......................
16.6
1981-86 ...............................
4.1
Output
21.0
25.4
9.5
Employee
hours
6.9
7.5
5.2
Between 1972 and 1981, average annual output growth
(25.4 percent) was more than three times higher than
employee-hour growth. The major factor behind the strong
output performance was the continual innovation in inte
grated circuits combined with the industry’s adroitness in
rapidly turning such innovations into low-cost, massproduced devices. In an environment of rapidly evolving
products and low unit prices, myriad new uses were found
for semiconductor devices and most existing electronic
products, such as computers and military hardware, were
substantially upgraded.
These factors were also present during the first half of the
1980’s, but gains in output per employee hour were less than
one-quarter of those registered in the 1970’s— 4.1 as against
16.6 percent per year. During the 1981-86 period, output
Mark Scott Sieling is an economist in the Division of Industry Productivity
Studies, Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
growth was dampened by increasing Japanese competition
and a series of slowdowns in computer manufacturing (a
major user of semiconductor devices). Increases in average
employee hours also lessened during the early 1980’s—
from 7.5 percent a year in 1972-81 to 5.2 percent in 1981—
86. The slowdown mainly reflected less robust output
growth. While circuits became more intricate, they required
more employee hours to design and produce; this tendency
was partially offset by the increasing use of computers in
both design and manufacturing processes and by more auto
mated production techniques.
Output and demand. The semiconductor industry manu
factures two major types of products— discrete devices,
such as transistors and diodes, which perform only one
electronic function; and integrated circuits (chips) which are
arrays of discrete devices imprinted on small pieces of sili
con. Increases in industry output since the late 1960’s stem,
to a large degree, from rapid growth in the production of
integrated circuits. In 1966, integrated circuits accounted
for about one-eighth of all semiconductor production, for
over one-half in 1972, and for almost four-fifths in 1980.
During the same period, their current dollar value leaped
from just over $100 million to about $6.5 billion.
The earliest integrated circuits, developed in the late
1950’s, contained fewer than 10 discrete devices. By the
late 1960’s, chip capacity had increased a hundredfold.
Since then, chip capacity has doubled about every 2 years;
in 1987, a chip the size of a postage stamp might hold up to
16 million separate elements.2 While this increase in capac27
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Productivity Gains in the Semiconductor Industry
ity would probably, by itself, have promoted strong output
and demand growth, its effects were intensified by the in
dustry’s ability to supply large numbers of chips and by
declining unit prices.
Prior to the late 1960’s, the semiconductor industry fo
cused on manufacturing customized integrated circuits for
computer manufacturers and the military.3 Limited produc
tion runs meant that development, overhead, and labor costs
were spread over a small number of chips, and unit prices
tended to be relatively high. In addition, chips designed for
one purpose could not be readily adapted for another. With
the introduction of the first high-capacity standardized
memory chip in the late 1960’s, emphasis was increasingly
placed on both enlarging chip capacity and quickly attain
ing mass production status. Peak production (in terms of
hundreds of millions of chips) typically occurred about
3 years after the first prototypes of a new chip generation
were introduced. High production levels then tapered off as
the next generation of chips entered the mass production
stage.4
When a new generation of integrated circuits was intro
duced, individual unit prices were much higher than for the
previous generation. As firms gained manufacturing experi
ence, unit prices typically fell by 30 percent with each
doubling of production.5 Not only were unit prices eventu
ally lower than the previous generation’s, but, because the
improved devices contained more elements, the cost per
electronic function also declined. For example, the cost for
a bit of memory (a single piece of information such as a
letter or digit) dropped from just under 1 cent in 1973 to
around one-thousandth of a cent in 1986.6
During the 1970’s, the combination of declining unit
prices, higher capacity devices, and standardized products
led to explosive growth in demand for integrated circuits
because of substantial upgrading of existing computer hard
ware and military equipment. Demand was further spurred
by the development of new products, such as video games
and watches, and the replacement of mechanical controls by
solid state electronic devices in a wide variety of products
ranging from refrigerators and thermostats to automobiles
and industrial equipment. In 1968, 50 percent of total semi
conductor output was used in military applications, com
puter manufacturing absorbed 30 percent, and consumer and
industrial goods, 20 percent.7 By 1979, military use ac
counted for only 10 percent of total semiconductor output;
computers, 30 percent; and industrial and consumer goods,
60 percent.
While improved circuits were still being introduced and
unit prices continued to decline during the first half of the
1980’s, a slackening of growth in computer manufacturing
and increased foreign competition retarded demand for and
output of U.S. manufactured semiconductor devices. In the
1970’s, for example, U.S. companies supplied about 60
percent of world demand for semiconductor devices; by
1985, their share had shrunk to 45 percent, while the market
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share held by Japanese firms had increased from 25 percent
to 40 percent.8
Within these long-term trends, year-to-year movements
in output and employee hours also reflected general business
activity but were usually more volatile— as illustrated by the
almost 30-percent output decline in 1975 and the 60-percent
increase in 1976. (See table 1.) Such large year-to-year
changes stem from a number of causes. When the demand
for electronic equipment and products declines, manufactur
ers reduce their purchases of semiconductor devices to a
much larger extent than they reduce production of finished
electronic goods, resulting in inventory depletion.9 As de
mand recovers, they often double or triple their orders for
semiconductors to ensure delivery and rebuild inventories.
Such rebounds occasionally coincide with the commercial
introduction of a new chip generation— as in 1976, when
4K memory chips (containing 4,000 memory bits) first be
came available in large quantities and at low unit prices.
When that happens, electronic goods manufacturers not
only increase their orders for older generation chips but also
place large orders for improved chips.10
Yield ratios. The basic building block of integrated cir
cuits is a flat wafer (disc) of silicon on which large numbers
of individual discrete devices, such as transistors, are im
printed. A key factor in increasing output per employee hour
is the ability to increase the number of usable devices on a
wafer. The same amounts of material and production worker
labor used to produce a wafer yielding a small number of
good chips are needed to produce a wafer yielding a larger
number of good chips. As the yield of good chips im
proves— typically from an initial low of 5 percent or less to
around 60-70 percent— unit prices decline because output
dramatically increases.11
Table 1. Productivity and related indexes for the semi
conductor industry, 1972-1986
[1977=100]
Year
A ll
O u tp u t p er
e m p lo y e e h o u r
O u tp u t
e m p lo y e e
E m p lo y e e s
h o u rs
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
46.3
53.6
64.1
56.0
82.5
100.0
120.5
138.1
36.4
51.0
63.5
45.8
72.4
100.0
139.0
190.4
78.7
95.2
99.0
81.8
87.8
100.0
115.4
137.9
78.1
94.8
100.5
82.5
88.0
100.0
114.5
136.3
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
......................................
149.4
171.6
197.9
211.5
229.2
206.1
218.4
226.1
260.5
301.2
339.9
432.5
392.3
399.4
151.3
151.8
152.2
160.7
188.7
190.3
182.9
151.5
151.7
153.0
159.3
185.6
189.4
181.4
A v e ra g e a n n u a l ra te s o f c h a n g e
1972-81
1981-86
...............................
...............................
16.6
4.1
25.4
9.5
7.5
5.2
7.5
4.9
Achieving high yield ratios, however, is not an easy task
and depends more on the refining of manufacturing proc
esses than on the gaining of experience by production work
ers (let alone on differences in material inputs).12 Attaining
acceptable yield ratios using standard production processes
requires coordinating and adjusting hundreds of separate
manufacturing stages, some of which involve new machin
ery and techniques, because processes used in research and
development are not directly transferable to regular produc
tion lines.13 This effort initially requires large amounts of
skilled engineering and technical employee hours, but as
yield ratios improve, these requirements ease and produc
tion labor inputs per good chip also decline.14
Although this process is repeated for each new generation
of integrated circuits, recent advances in computer-assisted
and computer-integrated manufacturing techniques have
lessened the time required to achieve acceptable yield ratios
as well as the cost associated with small runs of customized
chips.15
Employment and hours. Between 1972 and 1986, em
ployment in the semiconductor industry more than doubled,
from 115,000 to 268,000 workers. Overall, employment
increased at an average annual rate of 6.8 percent during this
period, compared with a 0.2-percent decline for all manu
facturing industries combined. Average weekly hours of
semiconductor production workers, however, were similar
to those of their counterparts in all manufacturing— about
40 hours per week. Overtime hours for both groups also
were almost identical, averaging about 3 hours per week.
Paralleling annual average rates of change in employee
hours, semiconductor employment gains were also higher in
the 1972-81 period (7.5 percent) than in the 1981-86 period
(4.9 percent), although increasing circuit complexity neces
sitated more design work and more complex manufacturing
techniques—just as circuit density doubles every 2 years, it
has also been estimated that design costs increase almost as
rapidly.16 This trend was mitigated, however, by the in
creasing use of computer-aided design and computerintegrated manufacturing systems as well as the introduction
of more highly automated production machinery and process.17
During the 1972-86 period, «the rate of increase in the
number of nonproduction workers (8.7 percent a year) was
almost twice as large as the rate for production workers (4.6
percent). This disparity partially reflected the rapid pace of
product innovation within the industry. Regardless of yearto-year fluctuations in demand and output, semiconductor
firms maintain large research and development staffs of
engineers and computer specialists designing the next gener
ation of integrated circuits. Year-to-year changes in produc
tion worker employment more closely follow yearly
changes in output. In 1985, for example, output declined by
9.3 percent and production worker employment fell by 8.1
percent. Nonproduction employment, however, increased
by almost 10 percent.
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Occupational structure
Considering the highly technical nature of semiconductor
devices and the emphasis placed on rapid innovation, it is
not surprising that the industry’s work force mainly consists
of engineers, computer programmers, and other technical
workers. With the increasing complexity of chips and manfacturing processes, the proportion of employees classified
as nonproduction workers has also increased— from around
40 percent in the 1960’s to 50 percent in the 1970’s and 60
percent in the early 1980’s. Production workers accounted
for only two-fifths of the total work force during the
1980’s— a much lower proportion than for manufacturing,
in which about two-thirds of all employees are production
workers. Semiconductor assemblers, testers, and inspectors
represent the largest production occupations. Predominantly
consisting of women, these occupations make up about onehalf of total production employment.18
Just as increasing product complexity has changed the
broad occupational structure of the semiconductor industry,
it has also affected the composition of the production work
force. Each succeeding product generation has called for
more sophisticated manufacturing techniques and equip
ment, which, while obviating the need for low-skilled man
ual production workers, has raised the demand for higher
skilled technicians and machine operators.19 This shift is
also reflected in average production worker earnings. As
more of the production work force consisted of relatively
high-paid technicians and machine operators, average pro
duction worker earnings rose from 10 percent below the
all-manufacturing average in 1972 to parity in 1985.
Industry structure
Although the number of semiconductor firms more than
doubled between 1972 and 1985— from 325 to 766— the
industry remained highly concentrated. Establishments em
ploying 1,000 workers or more have continually accounted
for about two-thirds of total employment and industry ship
ments, even through they represent only about 5 percent of
the total number of establishments in the industry. The rel
atively low proportion of employment and shipments ac
counted for by smaller sized establishments, however, be
lies their importance. Traditionally, these firms have
developed a disproportionate number of product improve
ments and manufacturing innovations.20
The industry relies mainly on outside suppliers to provide
it with the basic materials used to produce semiconductors,
such as silicon crystals, metals, chemicals, ceramics, and
plastics. The highly specialized machinery used in manufac
turing integrated circuits is mainly supplied by outside
firms, which in many instances, have initiated innovations
in materials or machinery which subsequently led to im
provements in semiconductor products.21 In recent years
there has been increasing collaboration between semicon
ductor manufacturers and their customers as the industry
29
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Productivity Gains in the Semiconductor Industry
shifted back towards producing semicustomized and cus
tomized chips.22
The early 1980’s witnessed an increase in the number of
firms specializing in specific areas of semiconductor pro
duction, such as designing integrated circuits or stages of the
manufacturing process.23 Given the large increase in the
cost of an average semiconductor plant— from roughly $10
million in 1975 to $100 million in 1985— very few complete
manufacturing facilities have been built in recent years.24
Large semiconductor companies, however, typically con
struct complete facilities encompassing all stages of semi
conductor manufacturing, from design to testing.
California accounts for about one-third of total semicon
ductor employment and shipments. Other major centers are
located in Arizona, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas.
Capital expenditures. Between 1972 and 1985, semicon
ductor capital expenditures grew at an average annual rate of
22.5 percent or about 7 times faster than the rate for all
manufacturing combined (3.3 percent per year). In most
years, about four-fifths of total capital investment is spent
for new machinery rather than for buildings. The torrid pace
of capital expenditure mainly reflects the rapid obsolescence
of production machinery— the average useful life of equip
ment in the industry is between 3 and 5 years. Each chip
generation typically requires new production equipment or
major upgrading of existing equipment to cope with the
smaller element sizes of the improved circuits.25
Total capital expenditures of the semiconductor industry
rose in constant dollar terms26 from $453 million in 1972 to
$2,832 million in 1985. Constant-dollar expenditures per
worker have also been consistently higher than for all man
ufacturing. In 1985, for example, they ran 3^ times higher
for semiconductor employees ($14,872) than for all manu
facturing employees ($4,429).
Despite high levels of capital investments, the semicon
ductor industry is still one of the most highly labor intensive
of any manufacturing industry, mainly attributable to the
complexity of the batch production process employed by the
industry and the production adjustments needed to produce
new generations of chips.27
Semiconductor capital expenditures, of course, varied
from year to year, mainly reflecting changing business con
ditions, product life cycles, and industry expectations. Be
tween 1972 and 1985, more than half of the year-to-year
changes fluctuated by 33 percent or more.
Research and development. The semiconductor industry
is one of the most research and development oriented sectors
in U.S. manufacturing. In 1977, for example, the industry
spent 24.9 percent of sales on research and development,
compared with 3.1 percent of sales for all manufacturing
industries combined.28 The relatively high output and pro
ductivity gains registered by the semiconductor industry
reflect the success of these research and development efforts
30
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
because product improvements have spurred demand, and
manufacturing innovations largely stem from in-house re
search and development efforts.29
Manufacturing techniques and technologies
There are four major stages in semiconductor produc
tion— design, imprinting, assembling, and testing. Given
the close-knit nature of the semiconductor manufacturing
process, however, the separate contributions of improve
ments in each of these areas to overall industry productivity
cannot be measured precisely.
In the design phase, engineers draw a series of integrated
circuit blueprints. Because the ability to design products
quickly both spurs the demand for new generations of semi
conductors and makes semicustomized chips more econom
ical,30 the industry has continually increased its use of
computer-assisted design and engineering systems. Produc
tivity advances stemming from the use of these systems may
be either constrained or hastened by changes in the manufac
turing process. On the one hand, designs may have to be
substantially modified because of manufacturing limitations
while, on the other hand, advances in manufacturing tech
niques or materials may compel major changes in design
parameters.31
After the design phase, devices are manufactured by im
printing silicon wafers with layers of circuitry. First,
blueprints are reduced to the actual size of the device and
turned into stencils. A stepping machine then duplicates a
single stencil repeatedly until a master mask consisting of
400 to 600 identical chip stencils is created.32 Next, a vari
ation of photolithography is used to transfer these mask
patterns onto silicon wafers. A wafer is first coated with a
thin film of electrically conductive material and then with a
layer of photosensitive material that hardens on contact with
light. Shining light through the master stencil onto the wafer
creates patterns in this top layer. Various solvents are then
used to dissolve the soft parts, leaving a tracery of conduc
tive material. This process is repeated again and again,
eventually creating hundreds of identical chips on a single
silicon wafer.
The basic manufacturing technique used to imprint wafers
is batch processing. A group of silicon wafers is moved
through a series of work stations. At each station, the wafers
undergo specific imprinting processes before they are
moved to the next station. With hundreds of processing
stations involved, semiconductor manufacturing is one of
the most complex production processes ever adapted to
mass production.33
As chip complexity and density have increased over the
years— with the size of electrical pathways shrinking to the
tens of thousandths of a human hair’s width— imprinting
machinery has also become more complex. Today’s equip
ment employs x-rays, lasers, and electronic beams in addi
tion to the traditional photolithography techniques. Each
generation of this equipment, however, presents unique pro-
duction problems in that procedures developed for one gen
eration are usually not applicable to its successor. Tech
niques, for example, used to adjust photolithography ma
chinery to produce the maximum number of good chips are
not useful in adjusting laser machinery.34
Besides adjusting machinery to achieve acceptable yield
ratios— as mentioned, initial yields are as low as 5 percent
or less— the imprinting process also involves adjusting var
ious chemical reactions, such as solvents and reaction times,
and maintaining or improving the manufacturing environ
ment as a whole. To minimize the number of defective chips
caused by dust particles, for example, imprinting is done in
special “clean” rooms in which the air has been purified 100
times cleaner than hospital operating rooms or 10,000 times
cleaner than typical office air.35
Imprinted wafers are usually air freighted to offshore
plants for final assembly and testing work. In these plants,
typically owned by the same company that designed and
imprinted the chips, each good chip has small wires attached
to its edges so it can carry electrical current. The wired chips
are then encapsulated into plastic or ceramic cases and
shipped back to the parent company for final testing and
sale.36 In recent years, the introduction of automated wiring
and encapsulating machinery has made for a return of this
assembly work to the United States as the amount of manual
labor required has deceased.37 In the 1970’s, for example,
a worker could wire about 120 chips per hour, compared to
5,120 per hour using the machinery of the 1980’s.
1 The semiconductor industry is designated as sic 3674 by the 1982
S ta n d a r d I n d u s tr ia l C la s s ific a tio n M a n u a l of the Office of Management
and Budget. This industry consists of establishments primarily engaged in
manufacturing semiconductors and related solid state devices, such as
semiconductor diodes and stacks, including rectifiers, integrated microcir
cuits (semiconductor networks), transistors, solar cells, and light sensing
and emitting semiconductor (solid state) devices.
Average annual rates o f change are based on the linear least squares of
the logarithms o f the index numbers. Extensions of the indexes will appear
in the annual Bureau o f Labor Statistics bulletin, P r o d u c tiv ity M e a s u r e s f o r
S e le c te d I n d u s tr i e s .
2 Andrew Pollack, “Japanese Chip Breakthrough,” T h e N e w Y o rk
T i m e s , Feb. 5, 1987, p. D6; and Albert J. Blodgeet, Jr., “Microelectronic
Packaging,” S c ie n tific A m e r ic a n , July 1983, p. 84.
According to some projections, a billion element chip can be achieved,
although limits imposed by fabrication processes may affect the time re
quired to reach this level of density. See James D. Meindl, “Chips for
Advanced Computing,” S c ie n tific A m e r ic a n , October 1987, pp. 7 8 -8 8 .
3 Robert W. W ilson, Peter K. Ashton, and Thomas P. Egan, In n o v a tio n ,
C o m p e titio n , a n d G o v e r n m e n t P o lic y in th e S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s try (Lex
ington,
m a
,
Lexington Books, 1980), pp. 86-89; and industry sources.
4 U .S. Department o f Commerce, A R e p o r t on th e U .S . S e m ic o n d u c to r
I n d u s tr y , September 1979, pp. 45-48; and industry sources.
5 W. J. Sanders, C o m p e titiv e F a c to r s In flu en cin g W o r ld T r a d e in S e m i
c o n d u c to r s , Statement before the Subcommittee on Trade, Committee on
Ways and Means, U .S. House of Representatives, Nov. 30, 1979, Serial
9 6 -9 2 , pp. 53-54; and industry sources.
While improvements in manufacturing techniques and processes are the
major impetus behind declining unit prices, other factors, such as industry
capacity and foreign competition, also play a role. In the early 1980’s, for
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Outlook
While semiconductor output and demand have recovered
from the 1985 downturn— with output increasing 1.8 per
cent in 198638— the long-term "outlook for the industry
hinges on a number of more fundamental factors than cycli
cal business movements. The continued development of
improved generations of integrated circuits coupled with
improvements in manufacturing techniques offers two (not
mutually exclusive) paths to follow— the mass production
of improved standardized products, such as 4 megabit or
larger memory chips and concentration on producing cus
tomized chips for individual customers. To confront the
challenge of mass production, a consortium of semiconduc
tor companies is constructing a factory to test manufacturing
techniques for the latest generations of semiconductor
devices.39 To economically produce customized devices,
many companies, especially small startup firms, are focus
ing their efforts on developing computer-assisted and
computer-integrated manufacturing and design processes.40
For the industry overall, however, the key to continued
productivity gains will still mainly lie with the industry’s
ability to turn laboratory innovations quickly into mar
ketable products— especially considering the wide array of
future semiconductor materials and devices currently on the
drawing boards, such as superconducting compounds, holo
graphic laser cubes, organic memory devices, silicon
micromechanical devices, and three-dimensional quantum
well devices.41
example, semiconductor manufacturers, both foreign and domestic, in
creased their manufacturing capacity in anticipation of 30- to 50-percent
annual sales growth. When this growth did not materialize, the resulting
surplus of chips triggered sharp unit price declines even though the pre
ferred capacity utilization rate of domestic manufacturers fell from 83
percent in 1983 to 69 percent in 1985. See Stephan Koepp, “Feeling the
Crunch from Foreign Chips,” Th e W a ll S tr e e t J o u r n a l, Oct. 27, 1986,
pp. 72-73; Michael W. Miller, “Microchip Firms in U .S. Yielding a Major
Market,” T h e W a ll S tr e e t J o u r n a l, June 5, 1985, p. 34; and, S u rv e y o f
P la n t C a p a c ity , 1 9 8 5 , Current Industrial Reports, MQ-C(85)-1 (Bureau of
the Census, November 1986), p. 8.
6 Wilson and others, In n o v a tio n , C o m p e titio n , a n d G o v e r n m e n t P o lic y
in th e S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s tr y , p. 35.
7 I b i d , p. 19; and U .S. Department of Commerce, A R e p o r t o n th e U .S .
S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s tr y , p. 8.
Although the military ’s consumption of semiconductor devices is lessen
ing in proportion to that of other users, the Department of Defense still
plays a significant role in the development o f new technologies and prod
ucts. Beginning in the early 1960’s, when the Air Force funded the devel
opment of integrated circuits for the Minuteman missile guidance system,
the military has continued to support the semiconductor industry directly
through research and development contracts and indirectly through product
purchases. In 1979, for example, the Defense Department funded a pro
gram to develop very high speed integrated circuits that involved nearly
every major semiconductor manufacturer. By 1984, the program was be
ginning to yield results in the form of improved integrated circuits, manu
facturing techniques, and processes. While national security considerations
constrain the immediate commercial applications of these advances, they
eventually do occur.
See A v ia tio n W ee k a n d S p a c e T e c h n o lo g y , July 30, 1984, “New Circuits
Expected to Exceed,” pp. 46-51; “Honeywell Plans to Supply Samples
31
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Productivity Gains in the Semiconductor Industry
Early Next Year,” pp. 52-60; “Hughes Chip Sets Supports Signal Process
ing N eeds,” pp. 61-63; “Texas Instruments Seeks Commonality,” pp.
64-65; and John Paul Newport, Jr., “A Supercomputer on a Single Chip,”
F o r tu n e , Sept. 29, 1986, pp. 128-29.
8 Wilton Woods, “How Chipmakers Survive,” F o r tu n e , Apr. 13, 1987,
pp. 89-92; and industry sources.
This breakdown of world market shares does not reflect the production
o f “captive” semiconductor establishments who manufacture semiconduc
tors mainly for use in-house as contrasted to merchant firms who produce
for the general market. In 1981, it was estimated that the combined produc
tion o f the two largest “captive” producers— at&t and IBM— amounted to
about 25 percent of total semiconductor production as reported by the
Department o f Commerce. See Wilson and others, I n n o v a tio n , p. 8.
9 Douglas A. Webbink, T h e S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s try : A S u r v e y o f S tr u c
tu r e , C o n d u c t, a n d P e r f o r m a n c e , Staff Report to the Federal Trade Com
mission, January 1977, pp. 117-19; and industry sources.
10 U .S. Department of Commerce, A R e p o r t on th e U .S . S e m ic o n d u c to r
I n d u s tr y , p. 43; and industry sources.
11 Industry sources.
12 Grunwald and Flamm, T h e G lo b a l F a c to r y (Washington, The Brook
ings Institution, 1985), pp. 53-54; and industry sources.
13 Industry sources.
14 U .S. Department of Commerce, A R e p o r t on th e U .S . S e m ic o n d u c to r
I n d u s tr y , pp. 17-18; Wilson and other others, In n o v a tio n , C o m p e titio n ,
a n d G o v e r n m e n t P o lic y in th e S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s tr y , p. 33; and industry
sources.
15 Industry sources.
16 “Toward the Silicon Foundry,” S c ie n tific A m e r ic a n , February 1983,
pp. 82-83; and industry sources.
17 U .S. Department of Commerce, A R e p o r t o n th e U .S . S e m ic o n d u c to r
I n d u s tr y , pp. 23-26; “Automated Semiconductor Line Speeds Custom
Chip Production,” E le c tr o n ic s , Jan. 27, 1981, pp. 121-27; and industry
sources.
The relatively recent introduction of automated production equipment
and processes may seem a bit odd considering the high-tech nature of the
industry. The tardiness reflects the past reluctance of the industry to invest
in expensive automated assembly lines that would soon be made obsolete
by continuing product improvements. During the 1960’s, for example,
there were many cases of firms’ building highly automated facilities only
to find them quickly outmoded, in some cases even before completion,
because these facilities were not adaptable to producing later generations of
semiconductor devices. See Grunwald and Flamm, G lo b a l F a c t o r y , pp.
69 -7 0 ; and industry sources.
18 Mark Sieling, I n d u s try W a g e S u rv e y : S e m ic o n d u c to r s , S e p te m b e r
1977, Bulletin 2021 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 1979).
19 John A. Alic and Martha C. Harris, “Employment lessons from the
electronics industry,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v i e w , February 1986, pp. 3 2-34.
20 Wilson and others, In n o v a tio n , C o m p e titio n , a n d G o v e r n m e n t P o lic y
in th e S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s tr y , pp. 13-18; U .S. Department of Com
merce, A R e p o r t o n th e U .S . S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s tr y , pp. 10-13; and
industry sources.
21 U .S. Department of Commerce, A R e p o r t on th e U .S . S e m ic o n d u c to r
I n d u s tr y , p. 19.
22 John W. Wilson, “U .S. Chipmakers Are Learning to Cope,” B u s in e ss
W e e k , Jan. 12, 1987, p. 92; Thomas C. Hayes, “Texas Instruments vs.
Japan,” T h e N e w Y o rk T i m e s , July 1, 1987, p. D l; and industry sources.
Within the semiconductor industry, there have been occasional attempts
to manufacture finished electronic goods which incorporate integrated cir
cuits (vertical integration). In the early 1970’s, for example, about 50 large
semiconductor firms started to produce personal calculators and watches.
By the late 1970’s, however, most had abandoned these efforts in the face
o f declining prices for these products— ironically brought on, in large part,
by the declining unit prices of semiconductors devices themselves. (Be
tween 1974 and 1975, average prices for electronic calculators fell from
$30 apiece to $6— mainly reflecting lower unit prices for their semiconduc
tor innards.) At the height of this movement by the industry into consumer
32
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
electronic products (1974), secondary products accounted for about onefifth of total industry shipments. By 1975, they amounted to only 10
percent.
Very few electronic goods manufacturers, however, have attempted to
produce semiconductor devices in the face of relatively large investment
requirements and the complex nature of the product. See Wilson and
others, I n n o v a tio n s , C o m p e titio n , a n d G o v e r n m e n t P o lic y in th e S e m ic o n
d u c to r I n d u s tr y , pp. 2 5 -3 6 , 98-101; and industry sources.
23 Otis Port, “For Chipmakers, National Boundaries Begin to Blur,”
B u s in e ss W e e k , May 6, 1985, p. 110; Peter H. Singer, “The Semiconduc
tor Revolution,” S e m ic o n d u c to r I n te r n a tio n a l , February 1986, p. 86; and
industry sources.
24 Industry sources.
25 Grunwald and Flamm, G lo b a l F a c t o r y , p. 52; and industry sources.
The swift replacement of semiconductor production machinery also re
sults in a smaller total cumulative working capital investment than is found
in most other manufacturing industries whose yearly capital expenditures
mainly add to an already large base of relatively long-lived machinery. In
1985, for example, the semiconductor industry produced goods worth
$5.82 for each new dollar of capital expenditures while the overall manu
facturing sector produced goods worth $27.38.
It is worth noting that innovations in production equipment occasionally
led innovations in integrated circuits. For example, poly silicon deposition
made metal oxide silicon dynamic random-access memories feasible. See
Wilson and others, I n n o v a tio n , C o m p e titio n , a n d G o v e r n m e n t P o lic y in th e
S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s tr y , pp. 38-41.
26 Adjustments for price changes were made by using the implicit defla
tor for nonresidental investment in structures and producers’ durable equip
ment. See E c o n o m ic R e p o r t o f th e P r e s i d e n t , January 1987, p. 236.
27 Grunwald and Flamm, G lo b a l F a c t o r y , pp. 51—53; and industry
sources.
In 1976, a million dollars’ worth of semiconductor devices required 54
employee years of labor inputs to produce, in contrast to 9 employee years
for a similar amount of motor vehicles and 23 employee years for comput
ers.
28 National Science Foundation, S c ie n c e I n d ic a to r s (U .S. Government
Printing Office, 1979).
29 O f course, not all inventions springing from the industry’s research
and development efforts result in successful products or manufacturing
innovations. In fact, a large number of such inventions have not been
commercially viable. See Wilson and others, I n n o v a tio n s , C o m p e titio n ,
a n d G o v e r n m e n t P o lic y in th e S e m ic o n d u c to r I n d u s tr y , pp. 56-62; and
industry sources.
30 Robert Neff, “The River Boat Gamblers of the Chip Business,” B u s i
n e s s W e e k , Dec. 15, 1986, pp. 96-98; “New Service Cuts the Cost of
Making Just A Few Chips,” I n d u s try W e e k , Sept. 29, 1986, p. 36; and
industry sources.
While not matching the gains cited in these articles of between an eightand tenfold improvement in the costs and time associated with transferring
prototypes into devices capable of being mass produced, many semicon
ductor companies have experienced significant improvements attributable
to computer-assisted design techniques.
31 Industry sources.
32 Everett M. Rogers and Judith K. Larsen, S ilic o n V a lle y F e v e r —
G r o w th o f H ig h T e c h n o lo g y C u ltu re (New York, Basic Books, 1984), pp.
111-18.
33 U .S. Department of Commerce, A R e p o r t o n th e U .S . S e m ic o n d u c to r
I n d u s tr y , p. 17; and industry sources.
34 Industry sources.
35 Rogers and Larsen, S ilic o n V a lle y F e v e r — G r o w th o f H ig h T e c h n o l
o g y C u ltu r e , p. 112.
36 William F. Finan, Th e I n te r n a tio n a l T r a n s fe r o f S e m ic o n d u c to r T e c h
n o lo g y T h ro u g h U .S .- B a s e d F i r m s , Working Paper 118 (Cambridge, m a ,
National Bureau of Economic Research, December 1975), pp. 18-19; and
industry sources.
37 Steven P. Galante, “U .S. Semiconductor Firms Automate, Cut Chip
Production in Southeast A sia,” T h e W a ll S tr e e t J o u r n a l , Aug. 21, 1985,
p. 28; and industry sources.
April 1987, pp. 1-12.
38 Andrew Pollack, “More Chips Expected From Japan Demand Rises in
America; Shortage Seen,” T h e N e w Y o rk T i m e s , June 22, 1987, p. D l;an d
David E. Sanger, “U .S. Chip Makers Recovering,” T h e N e w Y o rk T i m e s ,
May 26, 1987, p. D16.
41 Yasar S. Abu-Mostafa and Demetri Psaltis, “Optical Neural Comput
ers,” S c ie n tific A m e r ic a n , March 1987, pp. 88-95; Klaus Bechgaard and
Denis Jerome, “Organic Superconductors,” July 1982, pp. 72-84; James
B. Angell, Stephen C. Terry, and Phillip W. Barth, “Silicon Micromechan
ical D evices,” April 1983, pp. 44-55; and James D. Meindl, “Advanced
Computing.”
3 9 D e fe n s e S e m ic o n d u c to r D e p e n d e n c y , Report of Defense Science
Board Task Force, as excerpted in M a n u fa c tu rin g P r o d u c tiv ity F r o n tie r s ,
40 U .S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration,
U .S . I n d u s tr ia l O u tlo o k 1 9 8 7 , January 1987, pp. 3 2 -1 — 3 2 -6 .
APPENDIX: Measurement techniques and limitations
Indexes of output per employee hour measure changes in
the relationship between the output of an industry and em
ployee hours expended on that output. An index of output
per employee hour is derived by dividing an index of output
by an index of industry employee hours.
The preferred output index for manufacturing industries
would be obtained from data on quantities of the various
goods produced by the industry, each weighted (multiplied)
by the employee hours required to produce one unit of each
good in some specified base period. Thus, those goods
which require more labor time to produce are given more
importance in the index.
In the absence of physical quantity data, the output in
dexes for the semiconductor industry were constructed using
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a deflated value technique. The value of shipments of the
various product classes was adjusted for price changes by
appropriate Producer Price Indexes to derive real output
measures. These, in turn, were combined with employee
hour weights to derive the overall output measure. These
procedures result in a final output index that is conceptually
close to the preferred output measure.
The indexes of output per employee hour relate total
output to one input—labor time. The indexes do not measure
the specific contributions of labor, capital, or any other single
factor. Rather, they reflect the joint effect of factors such as
changes in technology, capital investment, capacity utiliza
tion, plant design and layout, skill and effort of the work
force, managerial ability, and labor-management relations.
33
Productivity trends in the cotton and
synthetic broad woven fabrics industry
Expanding output per hour
during the 1972-86 period has come about
despite low output growth
as the industry attempts to modernize
and fend off increased import penetration
M ark W . D u m a s
and
J. E d w in H en n e b e r g e r
Productivity, as measured by output per hour, grew at an
average annual rate of 3.7 percent per year from 1972 to
1986 in the cotton and synthetic broad woven fabrics indus
try.1 This rate of increase was significantly higher than the
2.5-percent rate for the average of all manufacturing indus
tries. Advances in industry productivity have been aided by
substantial investments in capital and diffusion of techno
logical advances such as shuttleless looms. In response to
the recent import surge from low-wage foreign competitors,
industry modernization and restructuring are taking place as
part of an ongoing attempt to sustain productivity growth.
Trends in productivity
The productivity gain of 3.7 percent per year resulted
from a rate of growth in output of 0.3 percent and a decline
in hours of 3.3 percent. Output fluctuated sharply during the
1972-86 period. Generally, the industry followed the cycli
cal pattern of the overall economy, with output declines
coincident with the economic recessions of 1974-75 and
1980-82. Peak industry output occurred in 1977, prior to
the explosive growth in imports. But while the output of the
industry has fluctuated, sometimes rather widely, productiv
ity, nonetheless, has, with a few exceptions, continued to
advance. In many industries, sharp declines in output result
Mark W. Dumas and J. Edwin Henneberger are economists in the Division
of Industry Productivity and Technology Studies, Bureau of Labor Statis
tics.
34
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in corresponding declines in productivity. However, this has
not been the case with broad wovens, because the industry
has been able to adjust the level of the work force in re
sponse to the changes in demand. Thus, even though output
tumbled in 8 of the past 15 years, productivity fell in only 3.
Productivity trends in this industry can be divided into
two distinct periods. From 1972 to 1976, productivity ad
vanced at a relatively slow rate of 1.5 percent annually, as
output fell slightly— down 0.2 percent per year, and em
ployee hours declined 1.7 percent annually. In contrast,
from 1976 to 1986, productivity expanded at a significantly
higher rate— 3.8 percent per year. This latter gain in output
per hour also reflected output and employee hour declines.
From 1976 to 1986, output declined 1.2 percent and hours
fell 4.8 percent annually. (See table 1.)
Industry description and operations
The output of this industry consists of woven fabric more
than 12 inches in width, made chiefly of cotton or synthetic
fibers or both. Important markets for the industry’s output
are the apparel, automotive, and home furnishings indus
tries. Many plants in the industry are highly integrated and
are capable of transforming bales of the fibers, first, into
yam. Multiple strands of this yam are then interlaced at right
angles in the process of weaving. Additionally, an inte
grated mill would have the capability to “finish” the woven
fabric. Finishing, a term for further treating fabric, may
involve one or more of the following operations: bleaching,
dyeing, printing (of a pattern), or applying permanent press
treatment. Weavers lacking the capability to perform these
finishing operations may contract with commission finishers
to provide these services. (However, these contract finishers
are not part of this study.) Finally, highly integrated mills
may fabricate some of their output of finished fabric into end
products such as sheets, towels, and pillowcases.
Traditional production techniques
Transforming fibers into finished fabric requires many
complex, integrated operations. The fibers must first be
“opened”— a loosening and partial cleaning process which
“fluffs” up the fibers which were tightly compacted in the
shipping bale. “Blending” assures a proper mix of cotton
and synthetic fibers. The “picking” operation transforms the
blended fibers into loose sheets of lint-like material (lap
rolls) made up of roughly parallel fibers. These “laps” are
then “carded” to further parallelize the fibers and reduce the
sheet of fibers to a loose, rope-like strand. This rope-like
material is then put through the “drawing” operation in
which several of the strands are merged and their fibers
further combed to increase parallelism among the fibers.
The “roving” operation then reduces the “drawn” strand into
a much smaller strand of fibers, inserts a slight twist, and
winds the strands onto “bobbins.” Spinning machinery for
the final process in the manufacture of yam draws out the
strands of fiber, twists them into yam, and again winds the
yam onto bobbins.
In the winding and warping operations, yam is trans
formed from the relatively small spinning bobbins onto
larger packages for use on the weaving looms. Weaving
then consists of interlacing crosswise or “filling” threads
with lengthwise or “warp” threads on a loom to form fabric.
If the yam that had fed the looms was already colored or
“dyed,” the fabric is, for the most part, complete. If the yam
was not dyed prior to weaving, the resulting off-white or
“grey” fabric may then be dyed in the finishing operation.
Finishing, a series of chemical, mechanical, and inspec
tion techniques, completes the process of cloth manufacture
in a fully integrated mill. Many discrete operations such as
singeing, washing, bleaching, dyeing, printing, preshrink
ing, calendering, and others may be included in finishing. It
is during these finishing operations that the treatments
aimed at improving the “wash and wear” property of cloth
are performed.
Technology in the 80 ’s
Technological changes taking place in the industry fall
into two general categories. One involves the improvement
of conventional machines (in speed, capacity, and degree of
automation) and the installation of auxiliary equipment (for
machine cleaning and materials handling) to increase pro
ductivity and improve product quality. Many of these
changes have already been adopted by the larger, modern
ized mills and are being adopted by smaller mills. The other
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technological change involves more radical modifications,
such as integration of two processes or more, instrumenta
tion for process monitoring, and the marriage of computers
to this instrumentation for real-time production information.
While in most mills, yam is still made on a series of
discrete machines, many plants have adopted a continuous
opening-blending-carding operation, known as direct-feed
or chute-feed carding. This eliminates the handling of fiber
from machine to machine and actually eliminates an entire
process called picking. In the old system, the picking proc
ess rolls the fiber into large heavy “laps” which then must
be moved manually or mechanically to the carding machine
for the next process. Output with direct-feed carding is
about 3 to 4 times greater per hour than the older manual
system.
Direct-feed carding greatly reduces the need for unskilled
and semiskilled labor, compared to the conventional process
of opening, blending, picking, and carding. In this continu
ous system, no picker operators are required nor are the
laborers who move the heavy fiber laps. Without the fiber
laps, labor for cleaning and maintenance is also greatly
reduced. In addition to being considerably more productive
than conventional operations, the direct-feed or chute-feed
process has also helped meet Federal requirements for lower
cotton dust levels, because the opening-to-carding opera
tions are major areas of cotton dust generation. Moreover,
the chute system, it is claimed, improves yam quality by
limiting fiber weight variations.2
Spinning, the final step in yam manufacturing, has been
sped up by the introduction of open-end or rotor spinning.
Table 1. Output per employee hour and related indexes for
the cotton and synthetic broad woven fabrics industry,
1972-86
[1977=100]
O u t p u t p e r e m p lo y e e h o u r
A ll
Year
e m p lo y
ees
E m p lo y e e h o u r s
Non
P r o d u c t io n
w o rk e rs
p r o d u c t io n
A ll
O u tp u t
w o rk e rs
e m p lo y
ees
Non
P r o d u c t io n
p r o d u c t io n
w o rk e rs
w o rk e rs
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
....
....
....
....
....
85.8
76.6
79.2
86.7
86.9
85.7
76.5
79.4
87.2
86.8
86.7
77.1
78.0
83.0
88.8
89.4
80.6
79.7
79.5
89.2
104.2
105.2
100.6
91.7
102.6
104.3
105.3
100.4
91.2
102.8
103.1
104.6
102.2
95.8
100.5
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
....
....
....
....
....
100.0
93.5
100.7
104.9
107.4
100.0
93.6
100.5
105.0
108.0
100.0
92.6
102.8
104.1
101.0
100.0
90.4
97.5
98.0
94.7
100.0
96.7
96.8
93.4
88.2
100.0
96.6
97.0
93.3
87.7
100.0
97.6
94.8
94.1
93.8
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
....
....
....
....
....
112.5
121.6
119.9
123.9
130.3
115.5
122.8
120.7
125.0
130.7
89.9
112.3
112.5
114.0
128.4
81.2
92.2
90.3
82.5
85.5
72.2
75.8
75.3
66.6
65.6
70.3
75.1
74.8
66.0
65.4
90.3
82.1
80.3
72.4
66.6
-3.4
-1.7
-4.9
-4.6
-2 .7
-1.4
-3.8
-6 .6
A v e r a g e a n n u a l r a t e s o f c h a n g e * 1)
1972-86
1972-76
1976-86
1981-86
.
.
.
,
3.7
1.5
3.8
3.6
3.8
1.6
3.9
3.4
3.0
1.2
2.7
5.6
0.3
-0.2
-1.2
-1.4
-3.3
-1.7
-4.8
-4.8
1Based on the linear least squares trends of the logarithms of the index numbers.
35
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Productivity in Broad Woven Textiles
Conventional ring spinning is a relatively discontinuous op
eration while the open-end machinery integrates several op
erations and can produce some of the coarser filling yams at
4 times or more the speed of ring spinning.3 Moreover,
open-end spinning reduces space, maintenance and cleaning
requirements, and downtime. Additionally, automatic dof
fing machinery can be built onto the new open-end spindles.
Because doffing (removal of full bobbins) is one of the most
labor-intensive operations in the mills, the successful au
tomation of this process greatly improves productivity.
Most notable among the technological advances in the
production of woven fabrics has been the introduction of
shuttleless looms. Conventional fly-shuttle looms use a
wooden projectile (a shuttle) to carry the filling or crosswise
yam back and forth between the alternating sets of length
wise or warp threads. The shuttle is “slam” driven from one
side of the loom to the other by wooden bars. To move the
filling yam back and forth, the newer shuttleless looms use
a variety of techniques and are of several types: Rapier (the
largest number in place), missile, water jet (restricted to
100-percent synthetics), and air jet (currently very popular).
As an example of the operation, air jet looms weave the
cloth by propelling the filling yam by means of highpressure streams of air.
Finally, electronic instmmentation and its extensive dif
fusion is an integral part of the industry’s changeover to a
more capital-intensive system. Instmmentation systems
along with microprocessors are reducing labor requirements
for machine operators, maintenance personnel, and un
skilled laborers. They are reducing downtime and improv
ing quality, but at the same time are upgrading requirements
for skilled repair technicians and electricians. For example,
in the dyeing and finishing operation, laser fabric inspection
equipment can detect flaws in the grey woven fabric, while
color monitoring devices check for dyeing irregularities.
However, many of the productivity gains enjoyed by
U.S. mills as a result of installing this new equipment and
the advantage this gave domestic manufacturers over im
ports from developing countries may be only temporary.
Much of the new equipment has allowed domestic fabric
manufacturers to undercut imports by producing specialty
fabrics, thereby partially removing themselves from the
low-end, undifferentiated fabric markets. However, be
cause most of this equipment is also available to foreign
manufacturers, any competitive advantage that U.S. mills
might hold can potentially be quickly eroded. This problem
for the U.S. mills is aggravated by the fact that the domestic
textile machinery industry is shrinking and, in some re
spects, nonexistent. The United States, for example, pro
duces none of the shuttleless looms that are revolutionizing
weaving.4
Employment trends
Total employment in the cotton and synthetic broad
woven fabrics industry declined at an average annual rate of
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3.1 percent from 1972 to 1986. This decline is significantly
greater than the 0.2-percent decline in employment meas
ured in the total manufacturing sector over the same period.
Employment in this industry increased from 288,000 in
1972 to 293,000 in 1973, but fell during the recessionary
years of 1974 and 1975. An improved economy help to
boost employment to a peak of slightly over 293,000 in
1976. Since 1976, however, employment has, with the ex
ception of 1984, declined steadily. Average annual employ
ment, as of 1986, was 185,000. Total employee hours de
clined, falling at a rate of 3.3 percent, also higher than the
0.2-percent decline registered by the total manufacturing
sector. The number of production workers declined at an
average annual rate of 3.2 percent. Production worker em
ployment peaked at 264,000 in 1976 and fell thereafter. In
1986, 166,000 production workers were employed.
The proportion of production workers to the total number
of employees remained fairly stable over the period. In
1972, this proportion was 90 percent and in 1986 it was 89
percent. Average hourly earnings of production workers in
the cotton and synthetic broad woven fabrics industry are
lower than those in all manufacturing. In 1972, average
hourly earnings in this industry were $2.75, compared to
$3.82 for all manufacturing. By 1986, the industry’s aver
age of $7.33 was still below the all-manufacturing average
of $9.73, although the gap, in percentage terms, had nar
rowed.
Structural changes and capital spending
The U.S. weaving industry has historically been frag
mented and is still characterized by many firms, both large
and small. However, between 1972 and 1986, industry
structure changed significantly. Competition and Federal
regulation led to increased capital expenditures. The indus
try was also affected by two major recessions which resulted
in the closing of less efficient plants and a reduction in the
work force of 36 percent. These changes have resulted in a
smaller but more competitive industry, operating at a high
level of capacity.
One of the factors which led to changes in the industry’s
structure was its response to increased competition. Domes
tic competition has been fierce for the better part of the last
decade because of somewhat sluggish demand. The recent
surge in imports has only intensified this competition.5 In
the low-growth markets in which these firms (both foreign
and domestic) compete, expanding market share for one
firm generally means a decreased share for others.6 Despite
international agreements to control their growth, imported
goods continue to gain market share. The growth in im
ported, uncut fabric has been accompanied by the influx of
fabricated apparel products, resulting in the further shrink
age of the domestic apparel industry. Thus, imported fabric
and apparel products now make up nearly one-half of the
apparel and apparel fabric market and one-third of the total
textile market.7
In an effort to remain competitive, domestic firms are
modernizing by investing in capital equipment. Industry
specialists believe that capital investment will boost U.S.
productivity, thereby reducing the price advantage of im
ports.8 This price advantage is largely attributable to the
differing wage structure between the United States and other
nations. U.S. textile wages, for instance, are more than 8
times higher than wage rates in Korea, a country whose
textile products are an increasing source of U.S. imports.9
Capital expenditures per employee have been increasing
in the broad woven fabrics industry. Although expenditure
levels have been below the all-manufacturing average
(1972-85), capital expenditures per employee have grown
substantially since 1972. In fact, over the period 1972-85,
current-dollar capital expenditures per employee grew at an
average annual rate of 12.2 percent (from $771 in 1972 to
$3,817 in 1985). This rate outpaced the all-manufacturing
rate of 9.5 percent, with expenditures growing from $1,356
in 1972 to $4,430 in 1985.
A significant portion of these capital outlays has been
allocated to safety and health equipment in an effort to meet
the standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Admin
istration ( o s h a ) and the Environmental Protection Agency
( e pa ). For some operations, particularly those in which dust
levels are high, Federal regulations have been difficult to
meet without new or overhauled equipment. Although these
equipment outlays have been expensive, some industry spe
cialists believe that Federal health and safety regulations
have “contributed to the increased pace and intensity of
modernization.” 10 These expenditures may have a negative
short-term effect on the industry because many foreign com
petitors do not incur such costs. However, the new equip
ment may “increase worker productivity and manufacturing
efficiency, and therefore improve international competitive
ness.”11
Although there has been some dispute regarding the
productivity-enhancing effect of the health and safety equip
ment, spending for it is expected to decline in future years,
leaving larger allotments for new and more productive oper
ating equipment.12 This is especially important in an indus
try where technological change has caused the rate of ma
chinery turnover to grow more rapidly from year to year.13
Tremendous resources are required by those firms that
wish to take advantage of these technological changes, and
ultimately remain competitive. Larger firms have been in a
better financial position to expend the huge sums required
for new plant and equipment. The 10 largest firms in the
industry accounted for 85 percent of new machinery pur
chases. 14 These large firms, reaping the benefits of modern
ization have increased their dominance over smaller firms.
This dominance is illustrated by the concentration ratio,
which represents the percentage of sales of a given industry
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accounted for by its largest companies. The weighted con
centration ratio of the eight largest firms in the industry rose
from 52 percent in 1972 to 58 percent in 1982.
Although spending on new plant and equipment has
played a significant role in increasing the domestic indus
try’s competitive stature, it has not been the sole factor. In
general, successful firms have adopted more competitive
strategies. Some of these strategies have been: identifying
emerging market niches which foreign manufacturers might
not have the capacity or incentive to supply, cutting re
sponse and production times, and stressing a commitment to
quality.
Outlook
Textile demand will continue to be heavily reliant on the
basic strength of the economy, especially the apparel, auto
mobile, and housing markets. However, demographic
changes will also play a major role. For example, the num
ber of persons in the age group 35-54 years old, who typi
cally have rising incomes and high rates of consumption, are
a key element in the growth of demand for textile products.
In addition, new industrial products are being developed;
some of these replace older products, but some involve new
applications; for example, soil-stabilizing “geotextiles” that
are used in erosion control.
The productivity advances made by the industry to date,
will, at a minimum, need to be maintained in the future if
the industry is to have a chance at fending off increased
market penetration from foreign textile products. Many in
dustry analysts believe that “the only way to alter the inter
national competitive balance is to drastically shorten the
production cycle.”15 Thus, fabric manufacturers would be
more closely tied to the apparel and other end-use manufac
turers and retailers under a “quick-response” system. Con
sumer retail preference readings, based on bar-coded end
products, would be electronically transmitted to apparel and
textile manufacturers, which would be able to respond
rapidly by shifting production based on those readings. This
would avoid the long lead times (now as much as a year or
more) between yam spinning and ultimate fabrication into
finished textile end products.16
A quick-response system may allow domestic manufac
turers to capitalize on the advantages of market proximity
and shortened delivery times— even in the face of low-wage
foreign competition. Of course, this system would require
that the entire chain of production, from yam spinning to
end product fabrication and ultimately retailing, be “wired”
into the network. Although several limited quick-response
programs have apparently met with success, the organiza
tional effort to expand such a system nationwide, through
out the textile and apparel manufacturing and retailing in
dustries, remains a major hurdle.17
37
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Productivity in Broad Woven Textiles
------ F O O T N O T E S —
1 The cotton and synthetic broad woven fabrics industry includes both sic
2211 and sic 2221 (see S ta n d a r d I n d u s tr ia l C la s s ific a tio n M a n u a l, 1987
Edition, Office o f Management and Budget). Establishments in these in
dustries are primarily engaged in weaving fabrics more than 12 inches in
width. Those establishments classified in sic 2211 weave fabrics that are
wholly or chiefly cotton. Fabrics produced by establishments classified in
sic 2221 are composed wholly or chiefly of silk and manmade fibers
including glass.
2 “Special Report: Chute Feeding,” T e x tile W o r l d , September 1981, pp.
5 8-8 1 .
3 Th e I m p a c t o f T e c h n o lo g y o n L a b o r in F o u r I n d u s tr ie s (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, May 1985), p. 2; and “Mills in U .S. Continue O-E
Expansion,” A m e r ic a n T e x tile s In te rn a tio n a l, April 1987, pp. 2 1 -2 4 .
8 National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council,
C o m p e titiv e S ta tu s o f th e U .S . F ib e r s , T e x tile s, a n d A p p a r e l C o m p le x ,
p. 16.
9 “Hourly Compensation Costs for Production Workers, Textile Mill
Products Manufacturing,” (U .S. sic 22), 26 Countries, 1975-1986 (Bureau
of Labor Statistics, September 1987).
10 Brian Toyne and others, Th e U .S . T e x tile M ill P r o d u c ts I n d u s try :
S tr a te g ie s f o r th e 1 9 8 0 ’s a n d B e y o n d (University of South Carolina, Center
for Industry Policy and Strategy, 1983), pp. 3-12; and Ruth Ruttenberg,
C o m p lia n c e W ith th e o s h a C o tto n D u s t R u le , th e R o le o f P r o d u c tiv ity
I m p r o v in g T e c h n o lo g y , for Office of Technology Assessment, March
1983, p. 103.
11 National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council,
4 U .S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, T h e U .S . T e x tile
a n d A p p a r e l In d u s try : A R e v o lu tio n in P r o g r e s s — S p e c ia l R e p o r t , ota tet332 (Washington, Government Printing O ffice, April 1987), p. 5.
C o m p e titiv e S ta tu s o f th e U .S . F ib e r s , T e x tile s , a n d A p p a r e l C o m p le x ,
5 National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council, Th e
13 Office o f Technology Assessment, U .S . T e x tile a n d A p p a r e l I n d u s tr y ,
p. 95.
C o m p e titiv e S ta tu s o f th e U .S . F ib e r s , T e x tile s , a n d A p p a r e l C o m p le x : A
S tu d y o f th e In flu en ce s o f T e c h n o lo g y in D e te r m in in g I n te r n a tio n a l I n d u s
p. 53.
12 I m p a c t o f T e c h n o lo g y o n L a b o r , p. 5.
tr ia l C o m p e titiv e A d v a n ta g e (National Academy Press, August 1985), p.
14 Ib id .
57.
15 “Getting Competitive,” N a tio n a l J o u r n a l, June 7, 1986, p. 1363.
6 Office o f Technology Assessment, U .S . T e x tile a n d A p p a r e l I n d u s tr y ,
p. 59.
16 I b id .
1 I b id ., pp. 4, 80.
17 “Apparel Makers Shift Tactics,” The New Y o rk Tim es, Sept. 21,
1987, p. D5.
APPENDIX: Measurement techniques and limitations
Indexes of output per employee hour measure changes in
the relation between the output of an industry and the em
ployee hours expended on that output. An index of output
per employee hour is derived by dividing an index of output
by an index of industry employee hours.
The preferred output index for manufacturing industries
would be obtained from data on quantities of the various
goods produced by the industry, each weighted (multiplied)
by the employee hours required to produce one unit of each
good in some specified base period. Thus, those goods
which require more labor for production are given more
importance in the index. Often, however, as an alternative,
unit value weights are used when unit labor requirement
weights are not available.
Because neither unit labor nor unit value weights are
available for all of the industry’s products, an alternative
technique was used to derive the output index for this indus
try. Therefore, real output for the industry was estimated by
a “deflated” value technique. Changes in price levels were
removed from current-dollar values of production by means
of appropriate price indexes at various levels of subaggrega
tion for a variety of products in the group. To combine
segments of the output index into a total output measure,
employee hour weights relating to the individual segments
38
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
were used, resulting in an output index that is conceptually
close to the preferred output measure.
The annual output index series derived from the above
discussed deflated value technique was then adjusted (by
linear interpolation) to the index levels of the “benchmark”
output series. This benchmark series (also utilizing the de
flated value technique) incorporates more comprehensive
but less frequently collected Economic Census data.
The indexes of output per employee hour relate total
output to one input— labor. The indexes do not measure the
specific contribution of labor, capital, or any other single
factor. Rather, they reflect the joint effects of factors such
as changes in technology, capital investment, capacity uti
lization, plant design and layout, skill and efforts of the
work force, managerial ability, and labor-management rela
tions.
The average annual rates of change presented in the text
are based on the linear least squares trend of the logarithms
of the index numbers. Extensions of the indexes will appear
annually in the b l s bulletin, Productivity Measures fo r Se
lected Industries and Government Services. A technical note
describing the methods used to develop the indexes is avail
able from the Office of Productivity and Technology, Divi
sion of Industry Productivity and Technology Studies.
An analysis of unemployment and other
labor market indicators in 10 countries
Declining unemployment rates in the United States,
Canada, and the United Kingdom contrast
with record highs in Japan, France,
and Italy during 1987; for the first time,
employment ratios by sex are analyzed
Jo y a n n a M o y
Unemployment rates declined in North America, Sweden,
and the United Kingdom during 1987, but rose in Japan,
France, and Italy and remained historically high in Aus
tralia, Germany, and the Netherlands. The United States
was the only country among the 10 studied in which jobless
rates have fallen below their pre-1980-82 recession levels.
During the second quarter of 1987, the U.S. unemployment
rate declined markedly, and by December was 5.8 per
cent— its lowest level in 7 years. (See table 1.)
In 1986, employment increased in all countries studied.
Job growth accelerated in North America, Australia, Japan,
Germany, and Italy, and resumed in France. In the Nether
lands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, employment
growth tapered off. (See table 2.)
Employment continued to increase in all countries studied
in 1987, but France and Italy. In France and Italy, the level
of jobs was stagnant. Data for 1987 indicate an acceleration
of employment growth for the United Kingdom and Swe
den, about the same rate of growth as in 1986 for the United
States, Canada, and Japan, and slowdowns in job creation
for Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands.
This article compares unemployment, employment, and
related labor market statistics in the United States and nine
foreign industrial nations— Canada, Australia, Japan,
Joyanna Moy is an economist in the Division of Foreign Labor Statistics,
Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
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France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the
United Kingdom.1 It also introduces comparative civilian
employment-to-population ratios, by sex, and briefly dis
cusses comparative unemployment rates published by two
other organizations— the Organization for Economic Coop
eration and Development ( o e c d ) and the Statistical Office of
the European Communities ( e u r o s t a t ).
The foreign labor statistics have been adapted where nec
essary to correspond with U.S. definitions of employment
and unemployment.2 Beginning with 1983, the measures
presented here for Germany and the Netherlands reflect
revised methods of adjusting their statistics for comparabil
ity with U.S. concepts. The new methods lower Germany’s
unemployment rate by less than one-half of a percentage
point, but lower the Dutch rate by about 2 percentage points.
This article also presents comparative figures for the United
Kingdom; the previous measures related to Great Britain
only, which excludes Northern Ireland. A discussion of
these changes and other recent revisions in the Australian,
Italian, and Swedish labor force surveys is included in the
appendix.
Developments in unemployment
Over the last three decades, the relative unemployment
rates among the countries studied have changed substan
tially. In 1960, North American jobless rates were the
highest recorded, while rates in France and Germany were
the lowest. The difference between the highest and lowest
39
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Labor Market Indicators in 10 Countries
Table 1. Civilian unemployment rates, seasonally
adjusted, nine countries, 1983-87
P e r io d
U n it e d
S ta te s
C anada
A u s t r a lia
Japan
F ra n c e
G e rm a n y
It a ly 1 S w e d e n
U n it e d
K in g d o m
1983 .
I ....
II. . . .
Ill .. .
IV . . .
9.6
10.4
10.1
9.4
8.5
11.9
12.4
12.2
11.7
11.2
10.0
9.6
10.2
10.3
9.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
8.5
8.4
8.4
8.5
8.8
7.1
6.9
7.2
7.3
7.2
5.9
5.4
6.0
5.8
6.2
3.5
3.3
3.5
3.6
3.4
11.9
11.8
12.0
11.9
11.8
1984 ..
I . ...
II. .. .
Ill . . .
IV . . .
7.5
7.9
7.5
7.4
7.3
11.3
11.3
11.4
11.3
11.1
9.0
9.4
9.2
8.8
8.7
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.7
9.9
9.5
9.8
10.1
10.4
7.4
7.3
7.4
7.4
7.4
5.9
6.0
5.9
6.1
5.6
3.1
3.2
3.1
3.1
3.0
11.7
11.9
11.7
11.6
11.6
1985 ..
I . . ..
II.. . .
Ill . . .
IV . . .
7.2
7.3
7.3
7.2
7.1
10.5
11.1
10.6
10.2
10.1
8.3
8.6
8.5
8.1
7.9
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.8
10.4
10.5
10.5
10.5
10.4
7.5
7.5
7.6
7.5
7.5
6.0
5.9
5.8
5.9
6.1
2.8
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.7
11.2
11.4
11.2
11.1
11.1
1986 ..
I ... .
II.. . .
III . .
IV . . .
7.0
7.0
7.2
7.0
6.8
9.6
9.7
9.6
9.7
9.4
8.1
8.0
7.8
8.3
8.4
2.8
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.9
10.7
10.5
10.7
10.8
10.8
7.2
7.4
7.3
7.2
7.1
26.3
6.2
6.3
6.0
6.6
2.7
2.8
2.6
2.6
2.6
11.2
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.2
1987 ..
I ... .
I I . .. .
III..
IV .. .
6.2
6.6
6.3
6.0
5.9
8.9
9.6
9.1
8.8
8.2
8.1
8.3
8.2
8.0
7.8
2.9
3.0
3.1
2.8
2.8
11.1
11.2
11.2
11.1
10.8
7.2
7.1
7.2
7.2
7.2
6.8
6.7
6.7
6.8
7.0
21.9
2.0
1.9
1.9
1.7
10.3
11.0
10.6
10.0
9.5
1 Quarterly data are for January, April, July, and October.
2 Break in series. For Italy, the first-half 1986 rate based on the former series was 6.4 percent.
For Sweden, the 1986 rate based on the new series is 2.2 percent.
N o t e : Quarterly figures for France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom are calculated
by applying annual adjustment factors to current published data, and therefore should be viewed
as only approximate indicators of unemployment under U.S. concepts. Published data for Aus
tralia, Canada, Japan, and Sweden require little or no adjustment.
rates was about 5^ percentage points. Fifteen years later,
North American jobless rates were still the highest. French
and German rates moved up to the middle of the array and
Japanese and Swedish rates descended to the bottom. The
range between the highest and lowest rates widened to
nearly 7 percentage points. In the early 1980’s, unemploy
ment rose sharply in most of Western Europe. In the 1985—
86 period, France, the Netherlands, and the United King
dom had jobless rates of about 10? percent to 11 percent,
more than 3 percentage points above the U.S. rate and about
8 percentage points above the rates in Japan and Sweden.
Germany’s unemployment rate also rose above the U.S.
rate.
The recovery from the recessions of the early 1980’s
began earlier in the United States and Canada than in West
ern Europe. Joblessness peaked at the end of 1982 in North
America, while European unemployment rates continued to
rise into, or even through, 1983. The subsequent improve
ment in North American unemployment rates contrasted
with little or no improvement in Western Europe (other than
Sweden) and in Japan.
The U.S. unemployment rate has declined substantially
since the beginning of 1983, with the largest declines occur
ring from that year through mid-1984, from more than 10
percent to l \ percent. The decline tapered off in late 1984
and as of the first half of 1986, the jobless rate was little
changed, at 7.1 percent. It was not until the second quarter
40
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
of 1987 that the unemployment rate again declined
markedly. By the fourth quarter, the jobless rate was 5.9
percent.
Unemployment has also moved downward in Canada
since the recession peak of 12.8 percent in the fourth quarter
of 1982, although not as sharply as in the United States. By
January 1986, the jobless rate had fallen below 10 percent
for the first time in 3^ years. However, the Canadian jobless
rate remained virtually unchanged throughout 1986 and the
first quarter of 1987 at about 9j percent. In the second
quarter of 1987, the unemployment rate fell sharply, as in
the United States, and by December was 8.1 percent.
In Australia, unemployment fell steadily between the end
of 1983 and mid-1986. By that time, the jobless rate had
dropped below 8 percent, from the recession high of more
than 10 percent recorded in the third quarter of 1983. How
ever, the unemployment rate inched upward to more than 8
percent in the second half of 1986 and remained there during
the first half of 1987. During the second half of 1987, the
jobless rate began to inch downward and by December was
7.8 percent.
In Sweden and the United Kingdom, unemployment rates
have been moving downward since mid-1983. In Sweden,
the decline since 1985 is partly attributable to increased
early retirements and the introduction of labor market pro
grams aimed specifically at youth.3 Labor market schemes,
such as public relief work, vocational training, and sheltered
workshops are used extensively in Sweden to provide jobs
to people who would otherwise be unemployed. The num
ber of persons enrolled in these labor market schemes varies
with the business cycle, but exceeded the number unem
ployed for more than a decade. In 1986, enrollments de
clined for the second consecutive year, to approximately 3.6
percent of the labor force. In 1984, participants accounted
for 4.5 percent of the labor force.
In the United Kingdom, the jobless rate moved slowly
downward from its mid-1983 peak of 12 percent until it
leveled off at about 11 percent 2 years later. At the end of
1986, unemployment rates resumed their downward move
ment. By December 1987, the jobless rate had dropped to
9.3 percent, the lowest in 7 years.
The German unemployment rate reached a new high of l \
percent in 1985. At the end of the year, the labor market
situation began to improve. Improvement continued
throughout 1986, albeit slowly, and by the fourth quarter,
the jobless rate had moved downward to 7 percent. During
1987, however, the jobless rate resumed its movement up
ward, reaching 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter. According
to the German Federal Employment Institute, overall unem
ployment would have been higher if the Institute had not
stepped up its training programs for dislocated workers and
. jobless youth. More than 500,000 persons were covered by
the various Institute-sponsored programs.4
In contrast to the above countries, unemployment rates
reached 30-year highs in Japan, France, and Italy in late
1986 and in 1987. In Japan, the steep rise in the value of the
yen contributed to the deteriorating employment situation.
The unemployment rate rose to 2.9 percent in mid-1986 and
remained at that level until May 1987 when the rate reached
Table 2.
a new peak of 3.2 percent. By July, the unemployment rate
had fallen back under 3 percent. While low relative to the
rates in most countries, 3 percent is high by Japanese stand
ards historically.
Civilian labor force, employment, and unemployment, approximating U.S. concepts, 10 countries, 1979-86
[Numbers in thousands]
Year
U n it e d
S ta te s
C anada
A u s t r a lia
Japan
F ra n c e
G e rm a n y
It a ly
N e t h e r la n d s
Sw eden
U n it e d
K in g d o m
Labor force:
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
1982 ..................................
1983 ..................................
1984 ..................................
1985 ..................................
1986 ..................................
104,962
106,940
108,670
110,204
111,550
113,544
115,461
117,834
11,231
11,573
11,904
11,958
12,183
12,399
12,639
12,870
6,519
6,693
6,810
6,910
6,997
7,133
7,272
7,562
55,210
55,740
56,320
56,980
58,110
58,480
58,820
59,410
22,670
22,800
22,930
23,160
23,130
23,290
23,340
23,480
26,250
26,520
26,650
26,700
126,650
26,760
26,980
27,180
63.7
63.8
63.9
64.0
64.0
64.4
64.8
65.3
63.4
64.1
64.8
64.1
64.4
64.8
65.2
65.7
61.6
62.1
61.9
61.7
61.4
61.5
61.8
63.0
62.7
62.6
62.6
62.7
63.1
62.7
62.3
62.1
57.5
57.2
57.1
57.1
56.6
56.6
56.2
56.2
53.3
53.2
52.9
52.6
'52.3
52.4
52.6
53.0
98,824
99,303
100,397
99,526
100,834
105,005
107,150
109,597
10,395
10,708
11,006
10,644
10,734
6,111
54,040
54,600
55,060
55,620
56,550
56,870
57.260
57,740
21,300
21,330
11,311
11,634
6,284
6,416
6,415
6,300
6,490
6,670
6,952
21,240
21,170
20,980
20,900
20,970
25,470
25,750
25,560
25,140
124,750
24,790
24,950
25,210
59.9
59.2
59.0
57.8
57.9
59.5
60.1
60.7
58.7
59.3
59.9
57.0
56.7
57.4
58.4
59.4
57.8
58.3
58.4
57.3
55.3
56.0
56.6
57.9
61.4
61.3
61.2
61.2
61.4
61.0
60.6
60.4
54.0
53.5
52.8
52.3
51.8
51.0
50.4
50.2
6,137
7,637
8,273
10,678
10,717
8,539
8,312
8,237
836
865
898
1,314
1,448
1,399
1,328
1,236
408
409
394
495
697
642
602
610
1,170
1,140
1,260
1,360
1,560
1,610
1,560
1,670
5.8
7.1
7.6
9.7
9.6
7.5
7.2
7.0
7.4
7.5
7.5
6.3
2.1
2.0
2.2
20,850
21,320
21,410
21,590
21,670
21,800
121,990
5,100
5,310
5,520
5,570
15,600
5,620
5,710
5,760
4,262
4,312
4,327
4,350
4,369
4,385
4,418
4,437
26,350
26,520
26,590
26,740
26,790
27,180
27,370
27,540
48.0
48.2
48.3
47.7
47.5
47.3
47.2
M7.5
49.0
50.2
51.4
51.2
150.9
50.5
50.7
50.8
66.6
66.9
67.2
62.6
62.5
62.2
62.3
62.1
62.6
62.7
62.7
19,930
20,280
20,250
20,320
20,390
20,490
120,610
4,830
4,980
5,010
4,980
14,890
4,930
5,110
5,200
4,174
4,226
4,219
4,213
4,218
4,249
4,293
4,319
24,940
24,670
23,800
23,710
23,600
24,000
24,310
24,450
51.7
51.7
50.8
49.6
148.6
48.5
48.7
49.1
45.9
46.1
45.9
45.2
44.7
44.5
44.4
144.6
46.4
47.0
46.6
45.8
144.5
44.3
45.4
45.9
65.3
65.6
65.1
64.7
64.4
64.5
65.0
65.4
59.2
58.1
55.7
55.3
54.7
55.3
55.7
55.7
1,370
1,470
1,730
1,920
1,960
2,310
2,440
2,510
780
770
1,090
1,560
11,900
1,970
2,030
1,970
920
920
1,040
1,160
1,270
1,280
1,310
11,380
270
330
510
590
1710
690
600
560
88
86
1,420
1,850
2,790
3,030
3,190
3,180
3,060
3,090
6.0
3.0
2.9
4.1
5.8
17.1
7.4
7.5
7.2
4.4
4.4
4.9
5.4
5.9
5.9
21,120
Labor force participation rate:2
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
1982 ..................................
1983 ..................................
1984 ..................................
1985 ..................................
1986 ..................................
66.9
66.8
66.8
66.7
66.6
Employment:
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
1982 ..................................
1983 ..................................
1984 ..................................
1985 ..................................
1986 ..................................
11,000
21,200
20,200
Employment-population ratio:3
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
1982 ..................................
1983 ..................................
1984 ..................................
1985 ..................................
1986 ..................................
Unemployment:
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
1982 ..................................
1983 ..................................
1984 ..................................
1985 ..................................
1986 ..................................
108
137
151
136
125
118
Unemployment rate:
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
1982 ..................................
1983 ..................................
1984 ..................................
1985 ..................................
1986 ..................................
11.0
11.9
11.3
10.5
9.6
6.1
5.8
7.2
10.0
9.0
8.3
8.1
2.4
2.7
2.8
2.6
2.8
6.4
7.5
8.3
8.5
9.9
10.4
10.7
6.0
16.3
5.3
6.2
9.2
10.6
112.7
12.3
10.5
9.7
2.1
2.0
2.5
3.1
3.5
3.1
2.8
5.4
7.0
10.5
11.3
11.9
11.7
2.7
11.2
11.2
2.1
2.0
6.8
Unemployment rate
(as published):
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
1982 ..................................
1983 ..................................
1984 ..................................
1985 ..................................
1986 ..................................
5.8
7.1
7.6
9.7
9.6
7.5
7.2
7.0
7.4
7.5
7.5
11.0
11.9
11.3
10.5
9.6
6.3
6.1
2.1
2.0
2.2
5.8
7.2
2.4
10.0
2.6
9.0
8.3
2.7
8.1
2.6
2.8
1 Break in series. Based on the former series, the adjusted unemployment rate would be approximately 0.3 percentage point higher for Germany, 0.2 percentage point higher for Italy, and 2
percentage points higher for the Netherlands.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6.0
6.4
7.5
8.3
8.5
9.9
10.5
10.7
3.8
3.8
5.5
7.5
9.1
9.1
9.3
9.0
7.7
7.6
8.4
9.1
9.9
10.4
10.6
11.1
5.1
5.9
9.1
12.6
17.1
17.2
15.9
14.6
2.5
3.1
3.5
3.1
2.8
2.7
5.3
10.4
10.9
11.6
11.7
11.9
11.9
2 Civilian labor force as a percent of the civilian working age population,
2 Civilian employment as a percent of the civilian working age population.
41
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Table 3.
April 1988 •
Labor Market Indicators in 10 Countries
Civilian unemployment rates, by sex, 10 countries, selected years, 1970-86
Year
U n it e d
S ta te s
C anada
A u s t r a lia
Japan
F ra n c e
G e rm a n y
Ita ly
N e t h e r la n d s
Sw eden
U n it e d
K in g d o m
Men:
1970 ..................................
1975 ..................................
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
4.4
7.9
5.1
6.9
7.4
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
9.9
9.9
7.4
7.0
6.9
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
5.6
1.1
6.2
6.6
6.9
7.0
3.8
5.2
5.1
4.8
11.1
12.1
11.2
6.4
9.7
8.7
10.3
9.4
8.0
7.7
1.2
1.8
1.9
1.7
2.0
2.1
2.5
2.5
2.4
2.4
1.4
2.9
4.3
4.4
5.5
.5
3.3
2.3
2.3
3.4
2.5
2.5
3.0
2.9
3.3
(D
4.0
3.7
4.4
7.0
1.4
1.4
1.9
1.7
2.4
6.2
6.6
8.0
5.2
26.4
3.8
4.1
4.2
4.3
24.4
9.0
211.4
10.9
9.2
(D
3.0
3.4
3.0
5.2
5.8
7.3
7.4
(D
8.3
9.1
10.1
8.1
13.7
2.3
2.3
2.7
8.6
13.7
215.2
14.4
13.0
(1)
3.4
3.5
3.2
2.9
2.7
8.7
8.9
6.4
6.4
5.9
2.8
2.6
3.5
5.0
5.6
7.4
11.5
11.5
12.1
11.9
11.5
11.6
Women:
1970 ..................................
1975 ..................................
1979 ..................................
1980 ..................................
1981..................................
5.9
9.3
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
5.8
2.8
2.2
4.1
.6
7.0
6.8
8.1
8.8
6.2
8.6
7.4
7.9
8.4
8.3
7.9
7.4
3.9
4.1
3.3
3.5
3.6
4.1
3.8
5.1
9.4
9.2
7.6
7.4
7.1
10.9
8.5
10.4
9.5
11.6
11.3
10.7
9.9
8.2
8.8
8.7
3.5
3.7
3.3
3.1
3.3
9.4
10.5
11.2
11.1
12.6
12.9
13.1
6.9
28.3
8.9
9.2
9.2
9.4
9.4
9.4
29.8
1.7
2.0
2.3
4.0
5.0
6.3
9.0
11.1
11.6
11.3
10.7
10.7
1 Not available.
2 Break in series.
In France, the jobless rate rose to lOj percent in early
1985 and remained at that level for a year. However, by the
second quarter of 1986, unemployment resumed its upward
movement and reached a new peak of more than 11 percent
during the first three quarters of 1987. In response to the
deteriorating labor market situation, the French government
introduced several programs during 1986 aimed at reducing
structural rigidities— simplifying regulations pertaining to
layoffs, allowing nongovernment organizations to make job
placements, reducing restrictions on fixed-term, temporary,
and part-time employment contracts, and expanding job cre
ation and training programs.5
The Italian jobless rate, which declined below 6 percent
in 1984, has generally risen since early 1985. By the fourth
quarter of 1987, it reached 7 percent. However, in addition
to a slowly rising unemployment rate, there are a significant
number of Italians who would like to work but who are not
currently seeking work and who are excluded from the b l s adjusted unemployment statistics. Nearly one-half of the
workers classified as unemployed by the Italian authorities
have been reclassified by bls as discouraged workers.
Although quarterly jobless rates approximating U.S. con
cepts are not available for the Netherlands, the seasonally
adjusted registered unemployment rate provides an indicator
of recent trends. This rate, approximately 5 percentage
points higher than the BLS-adjusted rate in recent years, has
generally declined since December 1983. By early 1987, it
had fallen about 4 percentage points, from a high of 17
percent.
Unemployment rates by sex. The historical relationship of
higher jobless rates among women was maintained in 1985
42
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
and 1986 in all countries studied except the United King
dom, where rates for men have been traditionally higher.
(See table 3.) The ratio of female-to-male unemployment
rates remained widest in Italy, where the ratio was greater
than 2. In Japan, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, the
ratio was 1.5, whereas in the United States, Canada, Aus
tralia, and Sweden, the rates for women were only slightly
above those for men.
Since 1970, the ratio of female-to-male unemployment
rates has narrowed in every country studied, except in Ger
many and Italy. By 1986, the differential in the United
States, Canada, and Sweden had virtually disappeared. In
the United Kingdom, the reverse differential has narrowed.
Unemployment rates by age. Since 1983, unemployment
rates among youth (persons under age 25) have been at least
double the rate of persons 25 years and older in most coun
tries studied. (See table 4.) In North America, Australia,
Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, youth jobless
rates have declined since 1983; in Japan and Italy, they have
risen. In the United Kingdom, the youth unemployment rate
declined between 1983 and 1985, but rose slightly in 1986.
The French youth unemployment rate rose between 1983 and
1985, but fell in 1986. Programs aimed at providing jobs
for youth, especially teenagers, have contributed to the
decline or abated the increase in Western Europe. In addi
tion, demographic pressures have eased as the supply of
youth entering the labor market has declined. In 1986, rising
unemployment rates in France and Germany for workers 25
and over, accompanied the declining youth jobless rates, sug
gesting that the special measures may have partly shifted the
burden of unemployment.6
In general, unemployment rates among teenagers re
mained considerably higher than among young adults (age
20-24 years). In Japan, France, and Italy, teenage unem
ployment rates reached new highs during 1985. By 1986,
teenage unemployment rates were declining in all but Japan
and the United Kingdom, and most likely, Italy. The 1986
adjusted teenage unemployment rate for Italy was not avail
able; however, given that the published youth rate rose, it
is likely that the teenage rate also rose. In contrast, since
1984, the unemployment rate for Swedish teenagers has
fallen well below the rate for young adults. Employment in
the Youth Teams program has substantially reduced unem
ployment among 18- and 19-year-olds.7
were created in North America, while the six Western Eu
ropean countries experienced a net gain of 810,000 jobs.
Canadian job creation rates lagged behind those of the
United States during the early 1980’s. By 1985, the Cana
dian employment growth rate was once again stronger than
in the United States, but in 1987, the U.S. growth rate was
stronger.
In Australia, employment has expanded vigorously since
1984. Employment growth rose from 3 percent in 1984 and
2.8 percent in 1985 to 4.2 percent in 1986. In 1987, employ
ment continued to expand, at 2.2 percent.
Japan is the only country studied where employment has
risen continuously since 1980. In 1985 and 1986, the num
ber of jobs created totaled nearly 1 million. During 1987,
employment continued to expand and 580,000 jobs were
created. Japan’s population is about half that of the United
States.
In Western Europe, employment gains were recorded in
1985 through 1987, except in France and Italy. Although
French employment rose slowly throughout 1985, the in
crease was not sufficient to offset the previous year’s loss.
A small gain was recorded in France in 1986, but jobs were
stagnant in 1987. In Italy, employment increased in both
1985 and 1986, but stabilized during 1987. In the Nether
lands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, the job creation
rate in 1986 was less than in 1985. However, job growth in
Sweden and the United Kingdom accelerated in 1987, while
in the Netherlands, it probably decelerated.8 In Germany,
1986 was a better year for job creation than 1985, but 1987
saw a tapering off of growth. The following tabulation
shows the percent change in employment from the previous
Employment trends
Employment increased more rapidly in North America
and Australia than in Japan and Western Europe in 198587. In the United States, job creation has continued un
abated since the end of 1982, although it has slowed in
recent years. The employment growth rates for 1985 (2
percent) and 1986 (2.3 percent) were less than half the 1984
rate. About 4.6 million jobs were created between 1984 and
1986. During the course of 1987, an additional 3.1 million
jobs were created— the largest annual gain since 1984. In
contrast, aggregate employment in the six Western Eu
ropean nations studied rose by only 1.4 million between
1984 and 1986, and by about 700,000 in 1987. (The aggre
gate population of these six countries slightly exceeds that
of the United States.) The contrast between the North Amer
ican and European experience in generating jobs is not a
new phenomenon. Since 1979, more than 15 million jobs
Table 4.
Civilian unemployment rates, by age, nine countries, 1983-86
A g e g ro u p
U n it e d
S ta te s
Canada
A u s t r a lia
Japan
F ra n c e 1
G e rm a n y 1
It a ly
Sw eden
8.2
10.6
10.2
5.9
21.4
29.6
17.4
U n it e d
K in g d o m 1
1983
All working ages....................................................................
Under 25 years..................................................................
Teenagers3 ....................................................................
20-24 years ..................................................................
25 years and o ve r..............................................................
9.6
17.2
22.4
14.5
7.5
22.2
11.9
19.9
18.5
9.4
18.3
23.6
14.5
7.0
7.5
14.0
18.9
11.5
5.8
11.3
17.9
19.9
16.8
9.3
9.0
16.8
22.3
12.9
6.3
7.2
13.6
18.6
10.5
16.5
18.8
15.3
8.7
8.3
15.2
20.3
11.5
5.9
4.8
7.5
4.2
2 .f
8.1
2.8
15.1
5.2
7.5
4.6
2.5
10.0
2.7
4.6
6.4
4.1
2.4
8.0
21.2
6.5
3.5
30.7
18.8
5.8
11.7
5.5
2.8
2.6
2 11.6
2 20.0
2 22.1
2 18.3
2 9.2
9.6
26.2
37.8
23.6
6.7
6.7
10.5
5.9
21.9
29.8
17.9
3.1
11.8
6.1
2.8
2.6
19.7
22.3
17.9
9.5
10.8
7.0
1984
All working ages....................................................................
Under 25 years..................................................................
Teenagers3 .....................................................................
20-24 years ..................................................................
25 years and ove r..............................................................
2.8
5.0
7.0
4.4
2.4
11.6
9.8
5.8
5.0
6.7
1985
All working ages....................................................................
Under 25 years..................................................................
Teenagers3 ....................................................................
20-24 years ..................................................................
25 years and o ve r..............................................................
11.1
5.6
2.6
10.3
27.6
36.6
25.6
7.5
6.9
10.0
10.6
6.0
22.1
6.2
30.4
18.3
2.9
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
9.6
2.8
11.2
5.8
4.6
6.4
2.3
17.7
19.8
16.4
9.3
2.7
5.7
4.4
6.3
20.1
1988
All working ages....................................................................
Under 25 years..................................................................
Teenagers3 .....................................................................
20-24 years ..................................................................
25 years and o v e r..............................................................
7.0
13.3
18.3
10.7
5.4
9.6
15.2
16.8
14.3
20.2
11.2
8.0
5.7
1 French data are for March; German data are for June; and U.K. data for 1984 onward
are for Aprll-June.
2 Data exclude Northern Ireland and are not adjusted to U.S. concepts.
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10.3
25.3
31.3
24.0
7.9
2.1
11.2
18.0
16.7
9.2
316- to 19-year-olds In the United States, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom; 15- to
19-year-olds in Canada, Australia, and Japan; and 14- to 19-year-olds in Germany and Italy.
4 Not available.
43
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Labor Market Indicators in 10 Countries
year for 1985-87 (note: 1987 data are preliminary for Europ e , and Dutch data for that year are estimated by the
o ecd ):
United States ..................... . . .
Six European countries .. . . . .
France ............................ . . .
Germany ....................... . . .
Italy ................................ . . .
Netherlands ................... . . .
S w eden............................ . . .
United Kingdom ........... . . .
1985
1986
1987
2.0
.7
- .4
.6
.5
3.7
1.0
1.3
2.3
.7
.3
1.0
.6
1.8
.6
.6
2.6
.7
0
.6
- .1
.8
1.6
1.9
Full-time versus part-time employment. In addition to the
differences in employment growth rates noted above, the
importance of full-time and part-time employment varies
widely. In North America, employment growth has con
sisted primarily of full-time jobs, while in Europe and Aus
tralia, growth in part-time jobs has been more marked. Ac
cording to the o e c d , nearly three-fourths of the 12 million
net new jobs created in North America between 1979 and
1986 were full-time positions, in sharp contrast with Europe
where the number of full-time jobs between 1979-85 re
mained virtually unchanged.9
In the United States, of the 4.6 million jobs created be
tween 1984 and 1986, 4 million were full-time positions.
However, in 1986 and 1987, the growth rate of persons
voluntarily working part-time schedules was higher than
that for those on full-time schedules. In Canada, the number
of full-time jobs increased steadily between 1984 and 1986,
although their proportion of civilian employment has de
clined somewhat. The share of part-time jobs to overall
employment has increased since 1980.
In Japan, the number of regular full-time employees has
continued to increase while the number of new temporary
and part-time employees hired has tapered off since 1983. A
significant and rising proportion of these temporary and
part-time workers are women (68 percent in 1986). Japanese
firms prefer to hire women as temporary or part-time
workers because of their tendency to withdraw from the
labor market for marriage and child rearing and to return
when their children begin school. In addition, under the
Japanese income tax system, it is sometimes more advanta
geous for a married woman to work part time rather than full
time.10
In Australia, the growth rate in part-time employment
outpaced the growth rate in full-time employment. In 1986,
the number of part-time jobs created (116,000) accounted
for 40 percent of all the new jobs created. In 1985, part-time
jobs rose by 55,000 and accounted for about 30 percent of
all new jobs.
Economic part time. In 1985 and 1986, as the employ
ment situation improved, the number of persons who were
involuntarily working part time declined in all countries for
which data are available.
44
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In Western Europe and Japan, workers placed on parttime schedules for economic reasons are provided payments
to compensate for hours lost. In the United States and
Canada, such payments are not widespread.
In Western Europe, data on such workers are available for
France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and are
derived from administrative records relating to payments for
work time lost because of economic reasons. In North
America, the source of the data on involuntary part-time
work is the labor force survey and the statistics contain a
component of underutilization not covered in the adminis
trative statistics—persons working part time because they
could not find full-time jobs.
In France, the number of persons compensated for work
ing shorter hours fell in 1985 by 77,000 and in 1986 by
68,000 to 128,500 (0.6 percent of civilian employment).
The number of days not worked declined by 40 percent
between 1984 and 1986 to 8.9 million. At its peak in 1981,
more than 320,000 French workers (1.6 percent of civilian
employment) were compensated for 17.4 million days lost.
In Germany, the number of persons who experienced
reductions in their workweek and received short-time bene
fits fell by 40 percent in 1985 to about one-third the 1983
peak of 675,000 persons. In 1986, short-time benefit recip
ients declined 17 percent to 195,000, approximately 0.8
percent of civilian employment.
In Italy, the Wage Supplement Fund paid for 660 million
hours not worked in 1985, nearly 100 million hours less than
the 1984 peak. In 1986, the number of hours subsidized
declined 10 percent to 595 million hours, approximately
equivalent to 330,000 person years of work.
In the Netherlands, the number of persons for whom
permits for short-time work have been issued declined 85
percent in 1985. According to the Dutch, an equivalent of
1,800 person years of work were lost in 1984 and only 300
person years in 1985. In 1986, the number of permits issued
fell 13 percent with a loss of 300 person years of work.11
In the United States, data are available from the Current
Population Survey on the number of persons working part
time for economic reasons. This group comprises persons
working reduced hours for economic reasons and persons
working part time because they could not find full-time
work. The number peaked at 6.3 million in 1983 and has
since declined but at a progressively slower pace. In 1986,
5.6 million workers, approximately 5.1 percent of the em
ployed, were affected. The proportion of persons on re
duced work schedules held steady at 2.3 percent of employ
ment in 1984 and 1985 and declined to 2.2 percent in 1986.
Persons working part time because they could only find
part-time jobs continued the decline begun in 1984. In 1985
and 1986, 2.6 percent of all civilian workers were unable to
find full-time jobs.
In Canada, the number of persons involuntarily working
at regular part-time jobs continued to rise until 1986. Be
tween 1975 and 1985, the number of these part-time work-
ers increased fivefold; between 1980 and 1985, the number
more than doubled. In 1985 and 1986, more than 500,000
part-timers, about
percent of civilian employment,
wanted to work full time but were unable to find a full-time
job.
The Canadian labor force survey also collects data on the
number of employed persons who lost work time because of
layoff or reduced hours. The number of such persons de
clined one-fifth in 1983 and more moderately in 1984 and
1985. In 1986, the number remained unchanged. The ratio
of persons on this type of reduced work schedule inched
downward from 1.1 percent of civilian employment in 1983
to 0.8 percent in 1985 and 1986.
Employment ratios by sex
Employment-to-population ratios are another indicator of
how well a country’s economy provides jobs for its workers.
Over the long term, employment ratios are influenced by
structural factors such as additional years of schooling, early
retirement, and the rising participation of women. Over the
short term, changes in business activity also affect the
movement of the ratio.
Table 5 and chart 1 present employment-population ratios
by sex adjusted to U.S. concepts for 10 countries. Data are
shown by sex because the overall trend masks marked dif
ferences in the trends for men and women. Employment-topopulation ratios for men declined in all countries between
1960 and 1986. The largest declines occurred in Western
Europe. Male employment ratios fell from 83 to 62 percent
in France and from 82 to 64 percent in Germany. British and
Italian men also recorded large declines in their employment
ratios. The smallest declines, less than 10 percentage points,
occurred in North America and Japan.
In 1986, male employment ratios were highest in Japan
(75 percent) followed by the United States, Canada, Aus
tralia, and Sweden (about 70 percent) and lowest in France,
Italy, and the Netherlands (about 62 percent). In 1960, male
Table 5.
employment ratios were lower in the United States and
Canada than in Western Europe and Japan. The range be
tween the highest and the lowest ratio was much narrower,
8 percentage points, compared to 14 percentage points in
1986.
The general downward movement of male employment
ratios reflects the long-term trends of increased years of
education and earlier retirements. In many Western Eu
ropean nations, retirement ages have been lowered in re
sponse to continued high unemployment rates. The ratio is
also affected by changes in the age distribution of the popu
lation. In the six Western European nations studied, the
proportion of their combined populations age 65 and over
increased from 12 percent of the total population in 1970 to
14 percent in 1980. In 1985, the proportion remained at
about 14 percent. In contrast, in the United States, where the
total population is a little smaller than the combined Eu
ropean population, the ratio is lower. The proportion age 65
and over rose steadily from 10 percent in 1970 to 12 percent
in 1985. In Japan, the ratio is still lower but rising— 7
percent in 1970 and 10 percent in 1985.
In the Netherlands, the low and falling employmentpopulation ratio is associated with a rise in both disability
pensions and early retirement programs, which have encour
aged withdrawal from the labor force.12 In Italy, the exis
tence of a large underground economy may be an important
factor which helps to explain its low ratio. Many Italians are
engaged in unrecorded employment; according to the o e c d ,
some are officially classified as not in the labor force while
others are classified as unemployed.13
Trends in employment ratios were more varied among
women than among men. Female employment ratios have
generally moved upward from the early 1960’s in North
America, Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In
Japan, France, and Italy, they initially fell, but subsequently
turned upward. In France, the rise began in the early 1970’s.
In Japan and Italy, the rise began in the mid-1970’s. The
Civilian employment-population ratios by sex, 10 countries, selected years, 1960-86
c-----------------Year
U n it e d
S ta te s
Canada
A u s t r a lia
Japan
F ra n c e
G e rm a n y
It a ly
N e t h e r la n d s
Sw eden
(D
(D
(1)
69.4
U n ite d
K in g d o m
Men:
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1986
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
78.9
77.5
76.2
71.7
72.0
70.9
71.0
76.9
76.9
73.4
73.5
73.0
68.7
69.5
(D
84.4
83.2
79.1
75.1
70.6
70.9
82.8
80.2
80.5
79.5
77.9
75.9
75.4
35.5
37.1
40.8
42.0
47.7
50.4
51.4
28.6
32.6
36.1
40.8
46.2
48.5
49.7
(D
34.0
39.3
41.4
41.9
43.0
45.1
51.8
48.1
48.2
44.0
45.7
46.3
46.2
62.2
62.0
82.0
80.7
78.3
70.6
68.9
63.7
64.1
62.5
62.2
61.0
(D
(D
81.5
77.4
76.0
73.6
70.5
70.6
40.0
37.9
38.0 f
39.1
40.0
39.7
39.6
40.5
39.9
38.2
37.0
36.7
35.5
36.0
31.0
26.6
25.0
25.3
27.9
27.8
28.3
d)
(D
(D
24.5
28.0
30.2
(D
)
45.8
49.1
54.0
58.0
59.7
60.4
83.4
80.9
76.4
72.2
68.6
79.5
75.2
71.9
68.8
66.0
66.8
85.0
83.5
79.2
76.7
72.8
68.0
67.5
Women:
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1986
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
..................................
0
38.9
40.8
41.2
44.4
44.8
44.4
44.9
1 Not available.
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45
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Labor Market Indicators in 10 Countries
Chart 1. Civilian employment-population ratios of men and women, 10 countries, 1960-86
[Percent]
46
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[Percent!
Netherlands also shows an increase since the mid-1970’s.
In Germany, the ratio trended downward until the mid1980’s, but now may be rising. The range between the
highest and lowest ratios also widened between 1960 and
1986. In 1960, the range was about 20 percentage points.
By 1986, the range had widened to more than 30 percentage
points.
In 1986, Swedish women had by far the highest employ
ment ratio, 60 percent, more than double the 28 percent for
Italian women and double the rate for Dutch women. In
Italy, employment in the underground economy may also
partially explain the very low ratios recorded by Italian
women. Employment ratios of 45-50 percent were recorded
in North America, Australia, Japan, and the United King
dom. France and Germany had lower ratios, at 40 percent
and 36 percent, respectively.
The varied trends in female employment ratios partially
reflect the changing sectoral composition of employment.
Female employment ratios initially declined, as employ
ment shifted out of the agricultural sector into the goodsproducing sector. Many women who worked on family
farms withdrew from the labor market when they moved to
the city. In 1960, about 10 percent of employed civilians in
North America, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
worked in the agricultural sector, while in the other coun
tries studied, the proportion ranged from 15 percent (Ger
many and Sweden) to 30 percent (Japan and Italy). By 1986,
the proportions had declined in all countries, to about 3
percent in the United States and the United Kingdom; 5
percent in Canada, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands,
and Sweden; and slightly under 10 percent in Japan, France,
and Italy.
As these countries moved from goods-producing to more
service-oriented societies, female employment increased.
Accompanying this rise was an increase in the number of
part-time jobs, the majority of which are concentrated in the
service sector. In Europe, women account for at least 80
percent of part-time jobholders, except in Italy, where the
share is about 60 percent. In North America, approximately
70 percent of part-time workers are women. Other reasons
contributing to the rise in female employment ratios include
declining fertility rates and changing attitudes towards
women in the workplace.
Other internationally comparable series
Three organizations compile internationally comparable
series of unemployment rates for selected industrial nations.
The bl s series, discussed in this article, adjusts unemploy
ment rates to U.S. definitions of employment and unem
ployment for nine foreign nations. The Paris-based o ecd
publishes Standardized Unemployment Rates for 16 of its
member countries.14 The Standardized Unemployment
Rates are adjusted to International Labor Office ( ilo ) con
cepts which are more general than U.S. concepts.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
A third organization, e u r o s t a t , publishes comparable
unemployment rates for European Community countries
based on its own specific interpretation of ilo concepts.
These concepts are close to U.S. concepts, but there are
some differences. (See appendix.) The e u r o st a t rates are
fundamentally different from those calculated by b ls and
o e c d in that they are based on a European Community-wide
survey which uses common concepts and definitions, al
though the wording and ordering of questions vary from
country to country.15 In addition, the data are centrally pro
cessed and tabulated by e u r o s t a t . In contrast, the b ls and
the o e c d series are primarily based on data collected in
national surveys using national concepts and definitions.
The data are processed by their respective statistical agen
cies and are then adjusted by b ls and the o ec d to a common
statistical base. However, for Germany and the Nether
lands, b ls now uses e u r o st a t statistics to provide bench
marks from 1983 onward. (See appendix.) The o e c d has
also begun to use the e u r o st a t data for a number of coun
tries.
Table 6 compares the adjusted unemployment rates pre
pared by these three organizations for 1983 to 1986. There
are some differences in the rates published by each organiza
tion. The b ls calculates its adjusted jobless rates on both a
total labor force base and a civilian labor force base. The
Table 6. Comparative unemployment rates, selected
countries, 1983-86
bls
C o u n try
s e r ie s
OECD
S t a n d a r d iz e d
C iv ilia n
EUROSTAT
s p r in g
s u rv e y
T o ta l
U n e m p lo y m e n t
b a s is
b a s is
R a t e s t o t a l b a s is
8.5
8.3
7.0
5.8
12.4
12.0
7.9
6.4
8.7
11.9
11.8
12.5
11.1
9.7
27.0
9.5
6.7
9.8
12.4
10.9
c iv ilia n
b a s is 1
1983
France ......................................
Germany ..................................
Italy.........................................
Netherlands...............................
United Kingdom..........................
7.1
5.9
12.7
11.9
8.3
8.0
9.8
1984
France ......................................
Germany ..................................
Italy.........................................
Netherlands...............................
United Kingdom..........................
9.9
7.4
5.9
12.3
11.7
9.7
7.2
5.8
10.2
11.8
12.0
11.6
211.7
10.2
10.1
7.2
10.5
1985
France ......................................
Germany..................................
Italy.........................................
Netherlands...............................
United Kingdom..........................
10.4
7.5
10.3
6.9
9.2
10.5
11.5
10.5
7.4
5.9
10.3
11.2
11.1
10.6
11.2
10.7
7.2
6.3
9.7
10.4
7.1
10.3
7.0
10.2
(3)
6.2
(3)
9.5
11.2
11.2
9.9
11.1
10.6
(3)
6.0
1986
France ......................................
Germany ..................................
Italy.........................................
Netherlands...............................
United Kingdom..........................
11.5
1Excludes conscripts but Includes career military.
2Break inseries.
3Not available.
N o t e : b l s and o e c d data are annual averages;
spring of each year.
eu ro stat
data relate to varying dates
Inthe
47
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Labor Market Indicators in 10 Countries
Standardized Unemployment Rates relate to the total labor
force while the e u r o s t a t data exclude military conscripts,
but include the career military. The reference period for the
b l s and the o e c d series is an annual average while the
e u r o s t a t data relate to various dates each spring.
Another reason for the differences between the b l s and
o e c d series is that b l s calculates adjustment factors by sex
while the o e c d does not. Differences in the age limits also
affect the data. The lower age limit of the b l s and the o e c d
data varies from ages 14 to 16. The e u r o s t a t data relate to
persons age 14 and over for all countries.
With the exception of Italy, the three different series are
moving closer together. In the case of Italy, b l s excludes
from the unemployed all those who have not sought work
within the past month. The o e c d Standardized Unemploy
ment Rates did not make this adjustment; therefore, the
1 Historical data are available upon request. Selected historical data
appear in the Current Labor Statistics section of the Review.
Standardized Unemployment Rates have been higher than
the b l s figures for Italy. The o e c d has now suspended its
calculation of Standardized Unemployment Rates for Italy
until further information becomes available. The e u r o s t a t
series requires the registered unemployed to state they are
seeking work and are currently available. However, they are
not necessarily required to have been seeking work in the
past 4 weeks. (Unemployed persons not registered are re
quired to seek work in the past 4 weeks.) The b l s compar
ative estimates for Italy currently exclude a large number of
registrants who did not state that they sought work in the
past month. Recent changes in the Italian survey question
naire will provide additional data on jobseeking activities of
the unemployed, b l s will reconsider its adjustment proce
dure for Italy when the results of the new questionnaire
become available.
8 Economic Outlook,
9Ib id ., p. 32.
p. 28.
2 For further information, see International Comparisons o f Unemploy
m en t , Bulletin 1979 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1978), appendix B; and
Supplements to Bulletin 1979 (Bureau of Labor Statistics), appendix B . For
some countries, annual adjustment factors are based on data from previous
household surveys or provisional data from current household surveys.
Therefore, data are preliminary for the United Kingdom from 1982 on
ward, for Italy from 1984 onward, for Germany from 1985 onward, and for
Australia and Sweden from 1986 onward.
12 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Economic
Survey o f The Netherlands (Paris, o e c d , February 1985), pp. 12-13.
3 National Institute of Economic Research, The Swedish Economy
(Stockholm, National Institute of Economic Research, 1986), p. 50.
13 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Economic
Survey o f Italy (Paris, o e c d , July 1986), p. 37.
4 U .S. Embassy’s (Bonn) summary of the German Federal Employment
Institute President Heinrich Franke’s press conference, October 1987.
5 U .S. Embassy (Paris), “Structural Changes in the French Labor Market
Under the Conservatives and Economic Implications,” Mar. 10, 1987,
p. 1.
6 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Economic
Outlook, June 1987, p. 29.
7 Bjorn Jonzon, “The Statistical Treatment o f Persons Affected by
Labour Market Measures and Employment and Training Schemes in Swe
den,” December 1985, p. 33.
APPENDIX:
11 Ministerie Van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, D e arbeidsmarkt
[Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, The Labor M arket] in September
1987, p. 4.
14 See Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Quar
terly Labor Force S tatistics, appendix, each issue. In 1986, the o e c d
suspended the updating o f current Standardized Unemployment Rates for
Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. Standardized Unemployment Rates for
previous years are still published for these three countries.
15 For further information, see Constance Sorrentino, “The Uses o f the
European Community Labour Force Surveys for International Unemploy
ment Comparisons,” Statistical Office of the European Communities Sem
inar— The Community Labour Force Survey in the 1990’s, Luxembourg,
Oct. 12-14, 1987.
Revisions in comparative statistics
Data for this article incorporate some revisions in the
Bureau’s methods for constructing comparative labor force
and unemployment statistics for Germany, Italy, the Nether
lands, and the United Kingdom. This section will briefly
discuss these revisions, recent changes in the Australian and
Swedish labor force surveys, the lower age limits used by
the Bureau for classifying persons in the labor force, and the
adjustment of Japanese unemployment rates by sex.
Germany and the Netherlands. For Germany and the
Netherlands, the revisions reflect the replacement of labor
force survey results tabulated by the German and Dutch
48
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
10 U .S. Embassy (Tokyo), Annual Labor Report 1 9 8 6 , Apr. 17, 1987,
p. 14.
statistical offices with those tabulated by the European
Community Statistical Office, e u r o s t a t , beginning with
1983. The e u r o s t a t data for 1983 onward were judged by
b l s to be closer to U.S. concepts than the national data for
these countries.
The e u r o s t a t data are based on raw national survey data
which have been coded and processed by e u r o s t a t to con
form to common definitions and classifications, e u r o s t a t
requires unemployed persons to be currently available for
work and to have actively sought work in the past 4 weeks—
requirements not necessarily made in the national surveys.
The e u r o s t a t current availability concept differs somewhat
from the U.S. definition in that an unemployed person must
be able to start work within 2 weeks of the reference week.
Under the U.S. definition, they must be available during the
reference period. In addition, certain groups are excepted
from the test of job search in the past 4 weeks: the registered
unemployed; persons awaiting the results of public sector
recruitment exams; and persons seeking self-employment.
However, the registered unemployed generally check with
the employment offices on a monthly basis, and the number
of persons in the other groups is probably not significant in
either Germany or the Netherlands.
Although the switch to the e u r o s t a t data provides better
estimates for 1983 onward, it does introduce breaks in series
at 1983. Unfortunately, the e u r o s t a t data prior to 1983 are
on a different conceptual basis and cannot be used for mak
ing comparative estimates. This discontinuity is small for
Germany, but it is more significant for the Netherlands. For
Germany, the impact of this change to a e u r o s t a t bench
mark was to lower the adjusted unemployment rate by about
0.3 percentage point. For the Netherlands, the b l s revision
also reflects the replacement of man-year employment data
with data from the Dutch Survey of Employed Persons. Data
from the survey of employed persons more accurately
reflect the development of part-time employment. The im
pact of these two changes has been to lower the adjusted
Dutch jobless rate approximately 2 percentage points for
1983 onward. This is primarily because the Dutch labor
force survey data did not exclude a significant number of
registered unemployed persons who were not currently
available.
Italy. The Italian revisions reflect a change in the Italian
Central Bureau of Statistics’ treatment of nonrespondents to
the survey question on time of last job search, beginning in
1984. Prior to 1984, nonrespondents were separately enu
merated. After 1984, this group was allocated among the
various specified time intervals. The revised b l s adjusted
series for 1959-83 performs a similar allocation for those
years; the revised figures are approximately 0.5 percentage
point higher than the previous estimates. Beginning in 1986,
the Italian Central Bureau of Statistics revised its unemploy
ment statistics to make them more consistent with e u r o s t a t
standards, b l s has requested additional information on this
change and may revise its historical estimates when further
data become available.
United Kingdom. The British revisions reflect the incor
poration of data for Northern Ireland. For 1959-81, the
previous Great Britain series was inflated to a United King
dom basis by applying ratios of United Kingdom to Great
Britain registered unemployment and employment figures.
For 1982 onward, the estimates are based on the results of
European Community labor force surveys for the United
Kingdom. However, the benchmarks have been tabulated
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
by the British Department of Employment rather than
EUROSTAT.
The link between the old and new methods appears to be
a good one which introduces only a slight break in
series. The impact of these revisions resulted in a slight
increase in the rates prior to 1981 because of higher unem
ployment in Northern Ireland. However, rates for 1982 for
ward are about 1 percentage point lower because adjustment
factors are now based on more recent labor force survey
results.
Australia and Sweden. Changes in the Australian and
Swedish household surveys result from their adoption of the
Thirteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians’
resolution regarding the treatment of unpaid family workers.
The resolution recommended that unpaid family workers at
work should be considered as employed, irrespective of the
number of hours worked during the reference period. The
United States did not adopt this resolution, and the U.S.
treatment of unpaid family workers remains unchanged; in
order to be classified as employed, unpaid family workers
must work at least 15 hours during the reference week. Prior
to April 1986 in Australia and January 1987 in Sweden,
unpaid family workers also had to work 15 hours or more in
the reference week to be classified as employed.
In Australia, the impact of this change was a marginally
lower unemployment rate. Historical data reflecting the re
vised treatment of unpaid family workers have not been
published.
The Swedish household survey results are also affected
by changes in the survey questionnaire and in the upper age
limit for classifying persons in the labor force that were
introduced in January 1986. New questions regarding cur
rent availability were added and the period of active job
seeking was reduced from 60 days to 4 weeks. For 1986, the
combined impact of all the changes was to raise employment
by 0.8 percent and to lower unemployment by 16 percent.
The unemployment rate was lowered by 0.5 percentage
point. In January 1986, the upper age limit of the survey was
lowered from 74 years to 64. Data on persons aged 65-74
are collected one quarter each year, however, and b l s ad
justs the Swedish data to include persons older than the
upper age limit. The Swedish data presented in this article
for 1986 and earlier years are on the old survey basis. The
b l s is in the process of revising its historical estimates for
Sweden to take these changes into account.
Lower age limits. The foreign labor force and unemploy
ment data analyzed in this article have been adjusted for
comparability to U.S. concepts. The data are also generally
adjusted to relate to the age at which compulsory schooling
ends in each country. Thus, the BLS-adjusted data relate to
the population 16 years and over in the United States,
France, Sweden, and from 1973, the United Kingdom; 15
49
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Labor Market Indicators in 10 Countries
years and over in Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany (until
1983), the Netherlands (from 1975-82), and the United
Kingdom (prior to 1973); and 14 years and over in Italy and
the Netherlands (prior to 1975). With the incorporation of
data from the European Community Labor Force Surveys
for 1983 onward for Germany and the Netherlands, the
lower age limit reverted to 14 years. However, there are few
14-year-olds in the labor force in either Germany or the
Netherlands.
The working-age population coincides with the lower age
limits of the adjusted labor force, employment, and unem
ployment statistics, except for Germany and the Netherlands
for 1983 onward. For Germany and the Netherlands, work
ing age relates to the population 15 years and over for 1983
onward. The institutionalized working age population is
excluded in all countries studied except Japan and Germany.
Japanese unemployment rates by sex.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
There are a number
of differences between U.S. and Japanese unemployment
concepts, but the overall Japanese unemployment rate is
virtually unchanged when U.S. concepts are applied. How
ever, there is a marked difference in the adjusted unemploy
ment rates for men and women. (See Constance Sorrentino,
“Japan’s low unemployment: an in-depth analysis,”
Monthly Labor Review, March 1984, pp. 18-27; and
“Japanese unemployment: b l s updates its analysis,”
Monthly Labor Review, June 1987, pp. 47-53.)
Unemployment rates by sex for Japan are based on special
labor force surveys taken in March of the 1977-80 period
and February of the 1984-86 period. These special surveys
probe deeper into the labor force status of the population
than do the regular monthly surveys. The unemployment
rates for the 1970-76 period are based on March 1977
survey data and rates for the 1981-83 period are based on
March 1980 and February 1984 survey data.
A note on communications
The Monthly Labor Review welcomes communications that supplement,
challenge, or expand on research published in its pages. To be considered
for publication, communications should be factual and analytical, not
polemical in tone. Communications should be addressed to the Editor-inChief, Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Depart
ment of Labor, Washington, DC 20212.
Productivity
Reports
Productivity in selected industries
and government services in 1986
A r t h u r S. H e r m a n
Labor productivity, as measured by output per employee
hours, increased in 1986 in more than three-fourths of the
industries for which current data are available. In compari
son, less than two-thirds of the industries posted gains in
1985.
This article updates to the most current year all indexes
included in the industry productivity measurement program
of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It extends the measures
through 1986, and includes data on industry multifactor
productivity measures through 1985 and data on Federal,
State, and local government productivity measures through
1986.
Table 1 shows labor productivity trends in the industries
measured by the Bureau and includes measures for addi
tional industries: cotton and synthetic broad woven fabrics;
industrial inorganic chemicals; industrial organic chemicals;
nonelectric heating equipment; semiconductors and related
devices; retail hardware stores; department stores; and auto
motive repair shops.1
Changes in industry labor productivity
Manufacturing. Among major manufacturing industries,
both motor vehicles and steel registered small productivity
gains in 1986. In motor vehicle manufacturing, productivity
grew by 1.8 percent. Although output fell 2.2 percent in
1986, mainly because of a decline in the automobile seg
ment of the industry, employee hours fell even more, drop
ping 4.0 percent. The productivity gain was the sixth con
secutive one in this industry. In steel manufacturing,
productivity was up 1.7 percent, as output dropped 5.9
percent, while employee hours fell 7.6 percent. Demand
was off from automobile firms and from capital goods pro
ducers, such as the agricultural and industrial machinery
industries, and other markets. The steel industry continued
to eliminate less efficient plant and equipment. Steel manu
facturing has recorded four consecutive annual increases in
productivity.
A number of important manufacturing industries posted
substantial gains in productivity in 1986, including
Arthur S. Herman is an economist in the Office of Productivity and Tech
nology, Bureau o f Labor Statistics.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
petroleum refining (12.0 percent); sawmills (11.0 percent);
and paper, paperboard, and pulp mills (7.1 percent). These
industries recorded output growth in 1986. In petroleum
refining, output was up 5.8 percent as demand was aided by
a sharp drop in the price of petroleum products and hours
fell off 5.6 percent as a number of less efficient refineries
were closed. Sawmills posted an output gain of 11.5 per
cent, as a result of increased demand from the single-family
housing market, while hours grew 0.5 percent. In the paper
industry, output gained 5.9 percent, as demand was stimu
lated by favorable overall economic conditions, while hours
were off 1.1 percent.
Only a small number of manufacturing industries regis
tered productivity declines in 1986. These were metal form
ing machine tools (—8.7 percent); steel foundries and non
wool yam mills (both —3.9 percent); oilfield machinery
( - 3 .4 percent); gray iron foundries ( - 1 .9 percent); and
cigarettes (—0.2 percent).
Mining. Among the mining industries, coal mining had a
productivity gain of 8.2 percent based on a small output
increase of 0.3 percent, while hours fell 7.3 percent. Be
tween 1985 and 1986, demand for coal remained fairly
stable while the industry continued to close less efficient
mines. Nonmetallic minerals posted a productivity advance
of 1.0 percent; output dropped 0.6 percent, as declining
demand from the agricultural chemicals market more than
offset a gain from the constmction materials market, and
hours fell 1.6 percent. In copper mining (recoverable
metal), productivity was up by a large 22.5 percent, as
output grew 4.2 percent while hours dropped 14.9 percent.
On the other hand, iron mining (usable ore) had a decline in
productivity of 6.3 percent; output fell 20.6 percent because
of a continued decline in demand from the steel industry,
while hours dropped 15.2 percent.
Transportation and utilities. Productivity changes were
mostly positive among transportation and utility industries.
Railroads had a large productivity gain of 11.0 percent;
output grew 1.9 percent while employee hours continued to
decline (—8.2 percent). In air transportation, productivity
grew 1.2 percent. Air traffic was up significantly in 1986,
and output grew 8.8 percent, while employment also was up
(7.6 percent). Petroleum pipelines had a gain in productivity
of 2.8 percent, as output grew 1.6 percent while employee
hours fell 1.1 percent. In telephone communications, pro
ductivity was up 6.0 percent based on an output gain of 2.2
percent and a drop in employee hours of 3.6 percent. Pro51
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Table 1.
[1977=100]
sic
April 1988 •
Productivity Reports
Iiidexes of output per employee hour in selected industries, 1981-86, and percent changes, 1985-86 and 1981-86
Code1
In d u s t r y
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
19862
P e rc e n t
A v e ra g e a n n u a l
change,
p e rc e n t c h an g e,
1985-86
1981-86
M in in g
1011
1011
1021
1021
111,21
121
14
142
Iron mining, crude ore ..........................................................
Iron mining, usable ore ..............................................................
Copper mining, crude o re ..........................................................
Copper mining, recoverable metal ................................................................
Coal m ining..........................................................
Bituminous coal and lignite m in in g ...........................................
Nonmetallic minerals, except fu e ls ...................................................
Crushed and broken stone.......................................................................
132.8
130.6
102.0
97.7
122.2
100.9
98.2
106.4
116.2
119.2
122.7
94.7
96.7
120.0
112.3
119.5
96.5
125.6
135.3
107.9
108.6
89.3
94.1
139.0
138.6
129.9
130.9
136.1
136.9
98.2
103.9
173.3
171.7
140.3
153.9
151.3
152.3
105.5
105.8
187.9
187.9
164.2
193.1
154.0
154.6
107.6
104.5
115.9
123.4
117.0
125.6
99.5
130.3
147.7
113.1
115.7
132.8
122.9
114.9
129.3
119.5
130.1
98.8
133.2
152.3
178.3
176.1
201.4
236.5
166.7
168.1
108.7
104.8
-5.1
-6.3
22.7
22.5
122.1
10.7
11.0
1.0
14.6
19.1
7.2
7.2
38
.3
2.1
2.2
1.2
2.4
2.9
1.2
43.1
144.9
126.0
122.9
133.8
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
134.1
(3)
3.4
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
9.1
(3)
93.2
192.1
132.5
106.8
99.7
94.7
108.8
137.9
103.2
198.4
143.8
108.5
105.5
108.7
100.7
130.3
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
109.1
111.4
107.4
137.0
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
3.4
2.5
6.7
5.1
6.0
16.0
5.2
.3
-3 .9
3.1
2.7
7.0
3.6
120.0
149.0
114.7
111.5
150.0
130.3
118.6
129.2
154.5
(3)
(3)
(3)
1.1
-.2
121.1
145.3
113.4
111.7
129.3
123.9
118.3
134.5
139.2
85.7
89.1
121.3
2.5
118.0
128.5
126.8
87.9
94.3
138.3
110.3
107.2
141.4
119.9
119.7
129.6
132.3
88.7
94.2
103.9
129.6
112.3
105.6
108.9
128.2
112.5
104.5
124.7
123.9
109.0
116.7
96.2
128.2
120.3
107.2
99.6
122.5
(3)
(3)
116.9
(3)
(3)
(3)
113.4
117.2
(3)
(3)
128.8
(3)
103.3
127.3
(3)
(3)
3.9
(3)
(3)
(3)
4.0
.4
(3)
(3)
7.1
(3)
3.7
3.9
43 0
45 g
.3
1.9
4- 1
43 5
3.8
44 1
- 6
3.1
102.6
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
148.2
114.8
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
9.1
44 5
413.3
47 6
43 2
5.3
8.2
8.7
M a n u f a c t u r in g
2011,13
2013
2016,17
2026
203
2033
204
2041,45
2041
2043
Red meat products ......................................................
Meat packing plants.............................................................................
Sausages and other prepared meats .............................................
Poultry dressing and processing.................................................
Fluid m ilk .................................................................................
Preserved fruits and vegetables..........................................................
Canned fruits and vegetables..............................................................
Grain mill products..................................................................
Flour (including flour mixes) and other g ra in s .........................................
Flour and other grain mill products..........................................................
Cereal breakfast foods..............................................................
107.9
113.9
95.0
116.4
128.0
99.2
100.7
110.9
99.1
96.7
109.3
2044
2046
2047,48
205
2061,62,63
2061,62
2063
2082
Rice m illin g .......................................................................
Wet corn m illing..................... ...................................................
Prepared feeds for animals and fow ls.............................................
Bakery products.....................................................................
Sugar ............................................................................................
Raw and refined cane sugar ................................................................
Beet sugar...................................................................................
Malt beverages ................................................................
117.9
137.5
110.7
96.2
98.8
98.8
98.7
118.3
2086
2111,21,31
2111,31
114.3
100.5
99.6
107.3
107.4
2251,52
2281
2421
2431
2434
2435,36
Bottled and canned soft drin k s ............................................................
Total tobacco products............................................................
Cigarettes, chewing and smoking tobacco .........................................
C ig a rs......................................................................................
Cotton and synthetic broad woven fabrics......................................................
Hosiery ..........................................................................................
Nonwool yarn mills ............................................................
Sawmills and planing mills, general ...................................................
Millwork.......................................................................
Wood kitchen cabinets......................................................
Veneer and plywood .....................................................................
103.1
107.9
96.4
94.8
106.9
2435
2436
251
2511,17
2512
2514
2515
252
2521
2522
2611,21,31,61
2643
2651
2653
Hardwood veneer and plywood .........................................
Softwood veneer and plyw ood.................................................
Household furniture.................................................................................
Wood household furniture ........................................................
Upholstered household furniture........................................................
Metal household furniture............................................................
Mattresses and bedsprings ................................................................
Office furniture....................................................................................
Wood office furniture ...........................................................................
Metal office furniture ..........................................................
Paper, paperboard, and pulp mills .................................................
Paper and plastic bags ......................................................
Folding paperboard boxes ........................................................
Corrugated and solid fiber b o x e s ...............................................
281
2812
2816
2819 pt
2823,24
2834
2841
2844
2851
2869
2911
3011
3079
314
Industrial inorganic chemicals ...............................................
Alkalies and chlorine ......................................................
Inorganic pigments .......................................................
Industrial inorganic chemicals, n.e.c...................................................
Synthetic fibers ..................................................................
Pharmaceutical preparations ......................................................
Soaps and detergents ......................................................
Cosmetics and other toiletries ...........................................................................
Paints and allied products ..............................................................
Industrial organic chemicals, n.e.c...........................................
Petroleum refining ....................................................................
Tires and inner tu b e s ........................................................
Miscellaneous plastics products............................................................
Footwear............................................................
91.4
95.3
105.1
89.3
120.9
104.2
107.3
76.1
99.8
103.9
83.7
118.1
98.5
95.6
3221
3241
325
3251,53,59
3251
3253
Glass containers..............................................................
Hydraulic cem ent..................................................................
Structural clay products .....................................................................
Clay construction products..............................................................
Brick and structural clay tile ........................................................
Ceramic wall and floor tile ..........................................................
91.1
100.7
97.3
84.3
125.9
2011
2121
2211,21
See footnotes at end of table.
52
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
122.0
121.0
112.3
104.1
115.0
104.5
138.8
124.9
103.3
90.4
87.6
94.8
122.6
118.3
100.7
99.5
111.4
112.5
114.2
118.2
115.1
86.1
96.1
114.4
100.0
131.7
142.4
110.4
112.2
125.5
117.7
110.4
118.8
103.3
156.9
127.5
106.9
98.6
100.0
94.5
131.3
127.0
105.1
104.1
112.3
121.6
100.3
101.4
110.1
111.8
122.1
127.3
103.0
97.3
110.5
98.7
114.0
108.8
99.5
114.0
104.4
92.3
104.5
109.8
104.7
98.2
115.9
107.5
104.3
107.4
90.3
116.6
111.3
95.3
104.2
111.9
110.2
110.1
86.3
100.8
96.7
80.8
103.6
107.0
100.9
84.0
106.5
87.2
79.4
128.2
110.1
106.4
105.8
94.0
103.9
121.7
109.2
108.8
122.1
121.3
109.7
117.7
96.0
130.4
119.5
102.9
104.5
114.0
105.6
102.4
118.9
112.0
93.9
94.2
127.1
104.0
86.9
126.2
115.2
97.7
86.2
111.5
105.3
81.8
136.1
107.3
103.9
102.6
108.5
108.4
105.0
103.3
101.0
88.6
85.5
126.2
128.1
122.8
121.0
106.0
146.3
125.7
97.5
125.3
114.3
101.8
112.6
122.6
147.4
132.7
95.3
135.8
111.9
103.3
86.7
117.3
112.4
85.2
119.0
114.0
92.5
146.8
110.5
105.7
146.7
113.0
107.3
128.0
125.3
127.0
128.3
102.6
111.2
111.8
110.4
93.3
144.0
111.7
99.5
131.1
131.7
102.2
122.1
11.0
(3)
(3)
(3)
44 4
43 1
44.7
46 5
45 9
64
45.4
4 -3.7
411.2
46 0
42.8
2.8
3.5
2.1
2.8
-.1
4.5
7.1
4- 2.0
4-1 4
43.1
41.9
43.4
2.5
42 2
2.6
1.8
(3)
(3)
4.1
(3)
4- 7
(3)
114.9
148.1
(3)
107.4
12.0
1.0
135.8
132.6
115.9
116.2
103.6
(3)
6.9
3.4
3.7
4.0
4.1
(3)
(3)
.1
42 8
4.0
44 3
7.3
47
42.8
1.8
5.2
8.8
3.0
3.5
4.3
42.0
Table 1. Continued—Indexes of output per employee hour in selected industries, 1981-86, and percent changes, 1985-86
and 1981-86
[1977=100]
sic
In d u s t r y
Code1
1981
3255
3271,72
3273
331
3321
3324,25
3331,32,33
3331
3334
3351
3353,54,55
Clay refractories .........................................................................................................
Concrete products.......................................................................................................
Ready-mixed concrete................................................................................................
Steel ............................................................................................................................
Gray iron foundries .....................................................................................................
Steel foundries ...........................................................................................................
Primary copper, lead, and z in c ...................................................................................
Primary copper ...........................................................................................................
Primary aluminum .......................................................................................................
Copper rolling and drawing ........................................................................................
Aluminum rolling and drawing ...................................................................................
3411
3423
3433
3441
3442
3465,66,69
3465
3469
3494
3498
3519
352
3523
3524
3531
3532
3533
3541,42
3541
3542
3545
Metal cans...................................................................................................................
Hand and edge tools ..................................................................................................
Heating equipment, except electric.............................................................................
Fabricated structural m etal..........................................................................................
Metal doors, sash, and trim .......................................................................................
Metal stampings .........................................................................................................
Automotive stampings ................................................................................................
Metal stampings, n.e.c..................................................................................................
Valves and pipe fittings ..............................................................................................
Fabricated pipe and fittings .......................................................................................
Internal combustion engines, n.e.c...............................................................................
Farm and garden machinery .....................................................................................
Farm machinery and equipment.................................................................................
Lawn and garden equipment .....................................................................................
Construction machinery and equipment ....................................................................
Mining machinery and equipment...............................................................................
Oilfield machinery and equipment...............................................................................
Machine tools .............................................................................................................
Metal cutting machine tools ........................................................................................
Metal forming machine tools ......................................................................................
Machine tool accessories............................................................................................
107.8
95.2
94.6
98.5
90.4
101.4
105.0
98.0
105.4
93.5
93.2
95.1
94.1
3561,63
3561
3562
3563
3585
3612
3613
3621
3631,32,33,39
3631
3632
3633
3639
3641
3645,46,47,48
3651
3674
371
3825
Pumps and compressors............................................................................................
Pumps and pumping equipment.................................................................................
Ball and roller bearings ..............................................................................................
Air and gas compressors............................................................................................
Refrigeration and heating equipment .........................................................................
Transformers...............................................................................................................
Switchgear and switchboard apparatus .....................................................................
Motors and generators................................................................................................
Major household appliances........................................................................................
Household cooking equipment...................................................................................
Household refrigerators and freezers .........................................................................
Household laundry equipment ...................................................................................
Household appliances, n.e.c.........................................................................................
Electric lamps .............................................................................................................
Lighting fixture s...........................................................................................................
Radio and television receiving se ts .............................................................................
Semiconductors and related devices .........................................................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent....................................................................................
Instruments to measure electricity .............................................................................
102.4
101.7
94.3
106.8
99.4
106.9
99.5
100.4
107.6
105.7
117.4
103.9
100.4
106.9
88.7
133.6
171.6
93.1
111.9
1982
1983
111.1
100.0
121.6
88.5
95.4
91.0
90.6
90.9
93.7
89.0
128.0
128.5
103.0
105.4
99.2
97.6
93.7
116.8
98.3
89.9
141.2
138.3
111.5
112.0
92.7
91.6
118.6
124.4
103.8
97.3
96.8
101.0
96.1
97.8
104.7
96.5
98.9
89.4
102.0
120.2
110.4
1984
115.1
99.2
96.3
131.3
106.8
98.8
148.4
151.9
125.4
127.4
116.2
114.1
100.5
97.4
139.5
104.2
95.6
181.3
189.8
125.4
121.3
115.9
122.9
90.1
125.8
90.6
97.7
117.7
106.3
104.7
118.5
92.8
102.3
99.5
96.0
98.1
106.7
89.3
101.3
89.5
82.0
94.9
92.6
106.9
88.9
91.0
98.4
88.5
89.2
85.0
89.1
120.4
89.3
93.2
103.0
99.7
104.7
122.3
89.3
103.6
87.1
95.9
93.1
83.3
100.2
106.1
104.4
94.4
109.7
105.4
97.6
107.4
107.9
123.6
131.9
127.5
117.5
109.8
131.9
102.0
100.1
99.6
101.3
102.4
108.6
102.0
107.9
102.8
95.3
92.0
111.9
110.4
127.9
96.1
105.1
97.9
99.8
105.2
104.6
111.4
88.2
102.6
91.3
91.8
83.5
81.1
87.4
83.0
98.5
87.5
94.0
93.3
93.7
95.4
86.8
97.7
86.3
105.2
100.9
99.1
106.1
104.3
117.6
112.6
120.8
116.1
105.4
94.7
108.4
91.0
163.9
197.9
96.9
119.2
127.1
112.2
103.7
124.8
96.3
196.1
211.5
109.6
121.8
1985
102.2
236.9
229.2
115.7
133.7
120.1
90.1
104.5
90.4
102.7
101.7
98.8
115.7
104.1
101.4
80.1
92.0
96.4
79.5
92.7
108.3
104.8
93.2
111.9
103.7
99.3
110.9
110.5
127.2
135.6
136.8
118.2
110.0
126.9
107.0
249.8
206.1
121.1
130.4
19862
117.3
(3)
(3)
141.9
102.2
91.9
200.9
214.8
128.2
129.9
125.8
129.5
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
105.3
(3)
77.4
95.2
104.7
72.6
(3)
(3)
(3)
93.5
(3)
(3)
101.9
121.2
(3)
135.7
144.8
146.1
123.3
119.3
128.7
(3)
256.9
218.4
123.3
(3)
P e rc e n t
A v e ra g e a n n u al
change,
p e rc e n t c h a n g e ,
1 9 8 5 -8 6
1 9 8 1 -8 6
2.8
1.8
(3)
(3)
1.7
-1.9
-3.9
10.9
13.2
“ 3.5
“ 1.0
7.7
2.2
7.1
8.5
2.9
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
1.2
(3)
-3.4
3.5
8.6
-8.7
(3)
(3)
(3)
0.3
(3)
(3)
2.6
9.3
(3)
6.7
6.8
6.8
4.3
8.5
1.4
(3)
2.8
6.0
1.8
(3)
2.6
.9
11.2
12.1
5.2
5.7
5.4
3.2
«-1.3
“ 0.6
“ 4.5
“ 4.0
“ 1.8
“ 4.6
“ -0.9
“ - 0.2
“ 0.2
“ 4.0
“ 2.4
“ 2.2
“ 3.2
3.1
“ 1.5
- 6.0
0.5
1.9
-3.3
“ - 1.2
“ 2.2
“ 1.8
1.1
“ 1.7
“ 1.4
- 0.8
3.7
“ 2.5
4.9
6.5
4.6
3.6
4.0
4.2
“ 5.0
14.4
4.1
6.3
“4.3
O th e r
401
401
4111,31,414 pt
4213
4213
4511,4521 pt
4612,13
4811
491.492.493
491.493
pt
492,493 pt
5251
5311
54
5511
Railroad transportation, revenue tra ffic .......................................................................
Railroad transportation, car m ile s ...............................................................................
Class I bus carriers .....................................................................................................
Intercity trucking .........................................................................................................
Intercity trucking, general freight.................................................................................
Air transportation5 .......................................................................................................
Petroleum pipelines.....................................................................................................
Telephone communications ........................................................................................
5541
56
5611
5621
5651
5661
57
571
572,3
Gasoline service stations6 ..........................................................................................
Apparel and accessory stores6 ...................................................................................
Men’s and boys’ clothing stores6 ...............................................................................
Women’s ready-to-wear stores6 .................................................................................
Family clothing stores6 ................................................................................................
Shoe stores6 ...............................................................................................................
Furniture, home furnishings, and equipment stores6 .................................................
Furniture and home furnishings stores6 ....................................................................
Appliance, radio, television, and music stores6 ..........................................................
Electric utilities.............................................................................................................
Gas utilitie s.................................................................................................................
Hardware stores6 .........................................................................................................
Department store s.......................................................................................................
Retail food stores6 .......................................................................................................
Franchised new car dealers........................................................................................
111.5
107.6
90.7
98.7
92.5
104.9
86.0
124.4
94.4
93.0
98.1
107.3
106.0
95.2
98.1
105.8
127.1
115.6
139.0
131.4
113.0
112.6
101.2
132.4
115.8
110.1
98.8
93.3
86.8
114.9
89.2
129.1
89.3
89.5
89.0
108.9
107.4
93.5
100.4
110.7
130.9
115.7
158.2
139.6
108.9
109.2
97.6
128.7
141.9
128.9
95.4
101.0
92.5
126.8
94.3
145.1
88.1
90.9
81.1
107.0
114.9
93.9
109.4
118.1
137.8
120.1
169.7
149.8
110.0
118.4
104.1
143.4
152.6
137.7
90.9
102.5
94.2
131.7
104.5
143.0
91.4
94.4
83.6
162.1
138.9
88.2
93.6
110.4
97.2
90.5
136.5
104.9
149.9
90.5
93.5
82.1
111.4
125.0
94.2
109.7
121.0
122.6
146.6
127.2
178.4
148.1
116.5
128.1
112.9
154.7
152.2
133.2
187.8
142.5
128.1
131.0
108.4
172.8
112.8
122.1
179.9
148.2
(3)
(3)
(3)
138.1
107.8
158.9
88.9
94.6
75.3
118.1
130.3
93.0
111.3
126.6
162.8
144.3
206.6
141.3
141.1
141.2
114.3
191.8
11.0
6.7
(3)
(3)
(3)
1.2
2.8
6.0
- 1.8
1.2
-8.3
6.0
4.2
-1 .3
1.5
3.3
7.0
8.3
10.0
10.4
7.0
“ -1.4
“ 0.6
“ 0.4
5.7
5.0
4.8
- 0.6
0.7
-4.3
1.7
4.5
-0 .3
2.6
3.6
5.1
4.6
7.5
- 0.8
1.2
10.1
4.8
5.1
2.9
8.4
7.8
5.4
11.0
See footnotes at end of table.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
53
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Productivity Reports
Table 1. Continued—Indexes of output per employee hour in selected industries, 1981-86, and percent changes, 1985-86
and 1981-86
[1977=100]
sic
Code1
58
5912
592
602
7011
721
723,724
723
753
In d u s t r y
1981
Eating and drinking places6 ........................................................................................
Drug and proprietary stores6 ......................................................................................
Liquor stores6 .............................................................................................................
Commercial banking ...................................................................................................
Hotels, motels, and tourist courts6 .............................................................................
Laundry and cleaning services6 .......................................................... .......................
Beauty and barber shops6 ..........................................................................................
Beauty shops6 .............................................................................................................
Automotive repair shops6 ............................................................................................
1 As defined in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972, published by the Office of
Management and Budget.
2 Preliminary.
3 Not available.
4 Percent change, 1981-85.
5 Output per employee.
6 Output per hour of all persons.
ductivity in electric utilities grew 1.2 percent, with output
up 2.2 percent and hours up 1.1 percent. On the other hand,
gas utilities posted a productivity decline of 8.3 percent;
output fell 11.1 percent partly because of a warm winter and
the shift of some customers to cheaper oil heat. Employee
hours were off 3.1 percent.
Trade and services. Productivity changes were mixed
among the trade and service industries. Furniture, home
furnishings, and equipment stores posted a 7.8-percent pro
ductivity gain, as output grew 9.3 percent while hours were
up 3.8 percent. The demand for furniture and appliances
was up because of the expansion in new and existing home
sales, while home electronics also had a good year, fueling
the large output gain. The appliance, radio, and t v compo
nent of this industry recorded an 11.0-percent productivity
gain. Apparel and accessory stores had a 7.0-percent gain in
productivity; output was up 9.1 percent, as sales were good
in all types of apparel stores; and all person hours grew 2.0
percent. Changes in productivity among the components of
this industry ranged from 10.1 percent in shoe stores to
—0.8 percent in family clothing stores. The gasoline service
station industry posted a 3.3-percent gain as output grew 5.0
percent, helped by lower gasoline prices, while hours were
up 1.6 percent. Both eating and drinking places and liquor
stores had 3.0-percent productivity increases, while new car
dealers had a gain of 1.5 percent, and beauty and barber
shops grew 0.2 percent.
Productivity declines were posted by a number of trade
and service industries. There was a decline of 1.3 percent in
retail food stores. Output was up 1.8 percent while hours
grew 3.1 percent, as the industry continued to provide more
service-oriented operations such as delicatessens, salad
bars, in-store bakeries, pharmacies, and photo departments.
Other industries with declines in productivity were laundries
and cleaning services (—2.4 percent), drug stores (- 3 .3
percent), and hotels and motels (—4.8 percent).
54
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1982
97.0
107.6
103.7
90.5
91.6
96.6
107.9
107.8
93.2
88.1
90.2
108.3
113.1
87.7
109.2
114.7
93.6
88.8
1983
97.1
110.1
101.7
101.7
95.4
90.1
114.1
120.0
86.2
1984
94.9
105.0
99.1
104.6
102.1
92.1
103.9
112.3
88.5
1985
93.5
100.3
105.9
109.2
97.5
87.0
98.5
104.0
96.2
19862
96.3
97.0
109.1
(3)
92.8
84.9
98.7
103.2
94.1
P e rc e n t
A v e ra g e a n n u al
change,
p e rc e n t c h a n g e ,
1 9 8 5 -8 6
1 9 8 1 -8 6
3.0
-3 .3
3.0
(3)
-4.8
-2 .4
-0.4
- 2.2
0.5
45.0
- 1.2
- 0.8
-2 .5
-2.4
-0.9
0.2
- 0.8
- 2.2
N o t e : Although the output per employee hour measures relate output to the hours of all
employees engaged in each industry, they do not measure the specific contribution of labor,
capital or any other single factor of production. Rather, they reflect the joint effects of many
influences, including new technology, capital investment, the level of output, capacity utilization,
energy use, and managerial skills, as well as the skills and efforts of the work force. Some of
these measures use a labor input series that is based on hours paid, and some use a labor input
series that is based on plant hours,
n.e.c. = not elsewhere classified.
Trends, 1981-86
A large majority of the measured industries recorded av
erage annual gains in productivity over the 1981-86 period.
Copper mining (recoverable metal) posted the highest rate
of growth in the last 5 years, averaging 19.1 percent a year.
Intense international competition in recent years has resulted
in improved mining methods and the shutdown of older, less
efficient mines. The radio and television receiving sets in
dustry experienced the second highest rate of gain during the
1981-86 period— 14.4 percent per year. Productivity
growth in this highly competitive industry was aided by thewidespread use of automated production technology and the
closing of less efficient plants. Other industries with high
rates of gain during 1981-86 include: alkalies and chlorine
(13.3 percent, 1981-85); primary copper, lead, and zinc
(11.2 percent); wet com milling (11.2 percent, 1981-85);
iron mining (usable ore) (11.0 percent); and railroad trans
portation (revenue traffic) (10.4 percent).
However, several industries showed marked declines in
productivity in the 1981-86 period. Among these, the oil
field machinery industry recorded the greatest falloff, de
clining at a rate of 6.0 percent. The industry faced a sharp
drop in demand for its products stemming from a downward
movement in the price of crude oil. Falling output coupled
with the industry’s made-to-order, labor intensive opera
tions, aggravated the productivity decline. Additionally, the
gas utilities industry was also among those industries that
had a marked falloff in productivity ( —4.3 percent annu
ally). During the 1981-86 period, the output of this industry
fell at a rate of 5.0 percent because of a decline in average
use per customer. There was only a minimal decline in
employee hours due to an increase in the number of cus
tomers. Thus, productivity declined substantially. Other in
dustries with substantial declines were: rice milling ( —3.7
percent, 1981-85); metal forming machine tools (—3.3 per-
cent); beauty and barber shops (—2.5 percent); and drug
stores ( - 2 .2 percent).
Industry multifactor productivity
Measures of multifactor productivity are presented for the
steel and motor vehicles industries. These industry measures
are the first to be published from the Bureau’s industry
multifactor productivity project. This is an ongoing program
and measures for additional industries will be published as
they are completed.2
In multifactor productivity measures, output is related to
combined inputs of labor, capital, and intermediate pur
chases. Multifactor productivity is equal to output per hour
adjusted to remove the effects of changes in capital per hour
and intermediate purchases per hour (materials, fuels, elec
tricity, and services). These effects are measured as the
change in the nonlabor to labor input ratio, weighted by the
nonlabor input’s share in total output. The capital effect, for
example, is the change in the capital-labor ratio weighted by
capital’s share in output. Multifactor productivity measures
still show the effect of many influences such as economies
of scale, capacity utilization, skill and effort of the work
force, and technological change.
The multifactor measures for the steel and motor vehicles
industries are available through 1985. Because these meas
ures were greatly affected by cyclical changes in the econ
omy, the periods from the last peak forward are analyzed
here, rather than the last 5 years as done for the other
measures. For the steel industry, the period 1979-85 is
discussed while for the motor vehicles industry, 1978-85 is
covered. Table 2 shows multifactor productivity and related
data for these periods for the two industries.
Steel. Multifactor productivity in the steel industry grew
at an average annual rate of 3.4 percent per year between
1979 and 1985, as output fell at a rate of 6.1 percent, and
combined inputs fell more steeply at a 9.2-percent rate. This
performance can be compared with growth of 4.8 per
Table 2.
cent per year in output per hour in steel manufacturing over
the same period. The difference between the growth rate of
labor productivity (output per hour) and that of multifactor
productivity was attributable to a 0.3-percent average an
nual growth in the capital effect (the change in the
capital-labor ratio weighted by the capital share of about 15
percent) and a 1.1-percent intermediate purchases effect (the
change in the ratio of intermediate purchases to labor
weighted by the intermediate purchases share of about 50
percent).
Some large, integrated mills with obsolescent plant and
equipment closed, as the restructuring of the industry con
tinued during the 1979-85 period, while diffusion of tech
nological changes such as the electric arc furnace and the
continuous casting steel making method increased. Labor
hours fell faster (—10.4 percent) than capital ( - 3 .2 percent)
or intermediate purchases (—8.8 percent) in this period, and
both the capital-labor and intermediate purchases-labor ra
tios increased.
Motor vehicles. Multifactor productivity in the motor ve
hicles and equipment industry grew at an average annual
rate of 0.8 percent per year between 1978 and 1985, as
output gains averaged 1.7 percent per year and combined
inputs rose at a 0.9-percent rate. Labor productivity (output
per hour) grew by 3.5 percent per year. The difference
between the growth of labor productivity and that of multi
factor productivity was almost entirely attributable to the
intermediate purchases effect. Changes in the capital-labor
ratio were so slight as to have virtually no effect on labor
productivity over the period. Both labor and capital declined
during this period, while intermediate purchases increased.
Between 1978 and 1985, the intermediate purchases effect
made up the entire difference between labor productivity
and multifactor productivity and, in fact, was a larger source
of the growth in labor productivity than was multifactor
productivity.
Multifactor and related productivity indexes1 for selected industries, 1978 or 1979-85
[1977=100]
SIC
Code
In d u s try a n d m e a s u re
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
19852
A v e ra g e a n n u al
p e rc e n t c h a n g e
1 9 7 9 -8 5
331
Steel:
Multifactor productivity.................................................
Output per h o u r............................................................
Output per unit of capital .............................................
Output per unit of intermediate purchases .................
—
—
—
104.4
106.6
114.3
101.5
102.4
105.8
99.5
100.7
101.6
112.1
108.2
95.5
96.4
98.1
72.5
96.8
115.0
119.5
82.6
114.0
119.4
131.3
95.4
113.6
123.6
140,5
97.3
116.0
3.4
4.8
-2.9
3.0
1 9 7 8 -8 5
371
Motor vehicles and equipment:
Multifactor productivity.................................................
Output per h o u r............................................................
Output per unit of capital .............................................
Output per unit of intermediate purchases .................
100.1
99.6
98.0
100.7
98.8
97.5
86.8
102.0
89.6
89.8
61.8
95.0
90.3
92.0
62.9
95.1
90.9
96.2
57.2
95.6
96.7
109.4
80.7
94.1
101.1
105.1
.8
115.3
104.1
93.9
121.2
3.5
3.0
110.9
96.7
-.9
1 The output measures underlying the productivity indexes relate to the total net production of the industry. They do not relate to the specific output of any single factor of production.
2 Preliminary.
N o t e : Dashes indicate data are not available.
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55
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Productivity Reports
Government productivity
Measures of output per employee year for the Federal
Government and selected State and local government serv
ices are included here for the first time. Data are presented
from fiscal years 1981-86 for most series and are shown in
table 3.3
Federal. Output per employee year increased 1.7 percent
in fiscal 1986 in the measured sample of Federal Govern
ment organizations. This gain reflected a 2.3-percent in
crease in output and a 0.6-percent increase in employee
years. The 1986 productivity rate surpassed the 1985 rate of
0.7 percent.
The measure covers a sample of Federal agencies drawn
from 60 agencies and representing 380 organizational units
in fiscal 1986. The organizations included 2.0 million exec
utive branch civilian employees representing 68 percent of
the total Federal civilian labor force. Agency employee cov
erage ranged from 100 percent to 1.2 percent.
The Federal organizational units are divided into 28 func
tional groups based on similarity of tasks performed (for
example, auditing, medical, personnel, and transportation)
to better identify and understand the forces which affect
Federal productivity. The change in output per employee
Table 3.
year for the 28 functions in 1986 ranged from an increase of
8.4 percent for regulation compliance and enforcement to a
decline of 7.5 percent for traffic management. Productivity
increased in 19 functions and decreased in 9.
The regulation compliance and enforcement function in
cludes 64 organizations that enforced Federal rules, regula
tions, and laws in 1986. Organizational examples include
coal mine inspection, hazardous substance response, cus
toms, and consumer product safety. The 8.4-percent in
crease in productivity in this function in 1986 was driven by
a 9.1-percent increase in output; labor increased 0.7 per
cent. The 1985 increase in productivity was 2.8 percent.
The traffic management function, which includes those
organizations responsible for arranging for the movement of
people and goods, showed a 7.5-percent drop in productiv
ity in 1986. Both output and employee years declined in
1986 but the 8.1-percent decrease in output exceeded the
0.7-percent drop in employment. Each of the three organi
zational units comprising this function showed decreasing
output in 1986.
The postal service function, the largest of the 28 functions
in terms of employees, includes only a single organization,
the U.S. Postal Service. In fiscal 1986, its productivity grew
at 1.3 percent, up from 0.4 percent in 1985. During 1986,
Productivity indexes1 for government, 1981-86
SIC
F u n c t io n a l g r o u p
Code
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
P e rc e n t ch a n g e ,
1 9 8 5 -8 6
A v e ra g e a n n u al
p e rc e n t ch a n g e ,
1 9 8 1 -8 6
F e d e ra l
Total, Federal sam ple......................................................
107.0
108.6
110.3
110.6
111.3
113.2
1.7
1.0
Audit of operations ......................................................
Building and grounds...................................................
Communications..........................................................
Education and training.................................................
Electric power production and distribution .................
Equipment maintenance .............................................
Finance and accounting...............................................
General support services.............................................
Information services ...................................................
97.0
93.3
127.0
183.2
95.3
127.9
196.1
109.2
77.9
110.5
166.6
158.2
114.0
97.9
130.4
213.8
108.1
67.2
115.5
163.9
148.6
118.8
100.6
128.8
226.1
108.6
58.5
117.1
163.2
136.1
124.6
93.7
125.3
236.3
109.2
54.5
119.3
170.0
143.0
125.9
- 6 .9
-2.7
4.5
.5
112.0
110.1
110.5
118.6
1.6
8.3
.3
1.7
7.5
.9
-5.8
- 1.1
3.6
112.1
113.8
130.8
122.7
105.4
108.0
.1
117.3
103.9
107.9
112.7
99.4
94.3
113.7
120.9
122.4
103.6
100.4
Legal and judicial ........................................................
Library services..........................................................
Loans and grants ........................................................
Medical services........................................................
Military base services .................................................
Natural resources and environmental management ..
Personnel investigations .............................................
Personnel management...............................................
4311
Postal service ............................................................
Printing and duplication...............................................
Procurement..............................................................
Records management.................................................
Regulation—compliance and enforcement.................
Regulation— rulemaking and licensing........................
Social services and benefits ......................................
Specialized manufacturing...........................................
Supply and inventory control .......................................
Traffic management ...................................................
Transportation..............................................................
122.1
178.4
115.8
85.6
110.3
127.9
129.3
104.4
104.4
111.5
110.3
100.8
» 104.9
102.7
109.7
97.3
106.4
102.6
127.7
113.8
112.5
121.7
102.1
141.8
98.8
124.8
112.0
111.8
62.8
110.5
150.8
162.0
106.7
108.9
107.2
104.7
101.9
109.3
111.9
104.5
106.7
107.0
105.8
125.3
118.6
131.4
102.4
133.4
106.1
117.0
114.3
107.9
113.1
124.7
120.5
126.6
139.3
109.8
138.0
104.3
115.8
114.6
107.8
96.7
117.9
109.7
94.8
119.1
120.0
103.4
99.4
118.2
120.0
121.1
102.2
105.6
101.9
100.1
99.4
99.0
109.8
120.3
127.2
123.5
126.9
146.1
110.3
122.5
121.7
130.5
153.3
118.7
146.9
96.7
111.7
125.0
119.4
122.9
141.4
150.5
118.6
149.4
98.2
112.7
113.2
120.8
111.8
114.4
116.3
110.3
93.3
108.5
93.8
105.0
(2)
(2)
110.1
143.8
100.2
122.1
.6
-6.9
.2
6.2
- 1.1
-7.2
1.8
1.8
4.2
5.1
-.2
.1
4.2
1.3
2.4
- 2.6
.1
8.4
- 1.8
-.1
1.7
1.6
-7 .5
1.7
4.8
2.8
.8
-6
31
- 1.2
-.1
10
4.3
- 1.1
1.3
4.2
4.6
35
1.7
- 1.0
-1.4
.5
S t a t e a n d lo c a l
4911
9441
Alcoholic beverages........................................................
Electric pow er............................................................
Unemployment insurance...............................................
1 Output per employee year.
2 Not available.
3 Percent change— 1981-85.
56
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
105.2
99.1
101.6
102.0
110.0
(2)
(2)
4.8
3.9
3 -1 4
-.3
output increased 4.4 percent while labor increased 3.0
percent.
Trends, 1981-86. Over the 1981-86 period, output per
employee year in the Federal sample rose at an average
annual rate of 1.0 percent. The year-to-year changes in
productivity ranged from a low of 0.2 percent in 1984 to 1.7
percent in 1986. The overall increase in Federal productivity
reflects an average rise of 2.3 percent in output and a 1.3percent increase in labor input. Output increased annually at
rates ranging from 1.2 percent in 1982 to 2.7 percent in
1985. Annual rates of change in employee years ranged
from a drop of 0.2 percent in 1982 to an increase of 2.1
percent in 1984.
From 1981 to 1986, productivity trends for the 28 func
tions ranged from 6.2-percent annual growth for communi
cations to a 7.2-percent annual decline for electric power
production and distribution.
Communications had the highest average annual increase
in productivity (6.2 percent) of any of the 28 functions. In
1983 and 1984, productivity increased 7.0 percent and 9.0
percent, respectively. The six organizations accounting for
this function in 1986 are in the Department of Defense, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Depart
ment of State.
The function with the second largest average annual in
crease in productivity over the last 5 years is finance and
accounting (4.8 percent), which includes internal govern
ment services, such as treasury bill and bond sales to the
public. In 1986, 18 organizations were included in this
function. Finance and accounting productivity had been
driven by the automation of many of the routine processing
operations. In one organization that serves the public, pro
ductivity doubled in 1 year as output mushroomed, opera
tions were mechanized, and employment was held roughly
constant.
From 1981-86, the electric power production and distri
bution function registered the largest decrease in productiv
ity of the 28 functions. During this period, productivity has
decreased in every year but one, which is a reflection of
sharply decreasing output. Employment has been cut back
over the past 5 years, but the decrease in output has ex
ceeded the cut in input by a wide margin.
1 For a detailed report on productivity in these industries, see the follow
ing M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w articles: Mark W. Dumas and J. Edwin Henneberger, “Productivity trends in the cotton and synthetic broad woven
fabrics industry”; Horst Brand and Ziaul Ahmed, “Productivty in industrial
inorganic chemicals”; Clyde Huffstutler and Barbara Bingham,
“Productivity in industrial organic chemicals”; John W. Ferris and Virginia
L. Klarquist, “Productivity in nonelectric heating equipment”; Mark Scott
Sieling, “Strong gains in semiconductor productivity linked to multiple
innovations”; Patricia S. Wilder and Virginia L. Klarquist, “Productivity in
the retail hardware store industry”; Brian L. Friedman, “Productivity trends
in the department store industry”; and John G. Olsen and Richard B.
Carnes, “Productivity in the automotive repair shop industry.”
2 For additional information about multifactor productivity in these two
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
State and local services
Electric power. State and local government electric power
output per employee year increased 0.5 percent in 1985, the
last year for which data are available, as output and employ
ment increased 2.9 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. In
1984, output and employment also increased, but productiv
ity dropped as employment grew more rapidly than output.
However, from 1981 to 1985, productivity declined at an
average annual rate of 1.4 percent as employment increased
at a more rapid rate than output (3.0 percent versus 1.5
percent).
Unemployment insurance. State unemployment insurance
productivity increased 4.8 percent in fiscal 1986 as output
dropped 3.1 percent and inputs were cut 7.4 percent. In
1985, productivity increased 2.9 percent and output and
employment dropped 1.2 percent and 4.1 percent, respec
tively. The decrease in output over the past 3 years is a
reflection of decreasing unemployment in the Nation and the
resulting drop in unemployment insurance claims and pay
ments. Over the 1981-86 period, productivity fell at a rate
of 0.3 percent, while output declined at an average annual
rate of 5.3 percent, and labor decreased at a 5.0-percent
rate.
State sales o f alcoholic beverages. Output per employee
year in State sales of alcoholic beverages dropped 1.6 per
cent in 1985, the latest year for which data are available, as
output and input dropped 2.6 percent and 1.1 percent, re
spectively. In 1984, productivity increased as output and
employment dropped. The drop in output and input in 1984
and 1985 is a continuation of trends that started in 1978,
trends which reflect decreasing demand for alcoholic bever
ages, and a shift in several States from government to pri
vate sector operations. Over the 1981-85 period, productiv
ity increased at a 0.9-percent average rate as employment
fell at a higher rate than output (3.2 percent versus 2.4
percent.)
A full report, Productivity Measures for Selected Industries
and Government Services , b l s Bulletin 2296, is available
from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. Price $9.50. Q
industries and a description of the methodology used to develop the indus
try productivity measures see Mark K. Sherwood, “Performance of multi
factor productivity in the steel and motor vehicles industries,” M o n th ly
L a b o r R e v i e w , August 1987, pp. 2 2-30.
3
For additional information about productivity in government, see Don
ald M. Fisk, “Productivity trends in the Federal Government,” M o n th ly
L a b o r R e v ie w , October 1985, pp. 3 -9 ; Jerome A. Mark, “Public sector
productivity measurement: The b ls experience,” in T h e M e a s u r e m e n t a n d
I m p lic a tio n s o f P r o d u c tiv ity G r o w th : P r o c e e d in g s o f a W o rk s h o p , N o v .
2 2 - 2 3 , 1 9 8 4 (Canberra, Australia Department of Employment and Indus
trial Relations, Bureau of Labor Market Research, 1986), Monograph
Series No. 14; and Donald M. Fisk, M e a s u r in g P r o d u c tiv ity in S ta te a n d
L o c a l G o v e r n m e n t , Bulletin 2166 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1983).
57
Research
Summaries
Evaluating workplace injury and illness
records; testing a procedure
W illia m M . E ise n b e r g
and
H elen M c D o n a l d
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 requires
many private sector employers to keep records of workrelated injuries and illnesses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
establishes recordkeeping guidelines (definitions) and col
lects data through a survey of these employers to produce
national measures of the occurrence of occupational injuries
and illnesses.
The results of the bl s survey are used by the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration ( o s h a ) to identify and
target industries for inspection, o s h a and other safety and
health specialists, researchers, and government organiza
tions also use the survey data in other efforts to improve
worker safety and health. Finally, national and State data
from the bl s survey also supply policymakers, as well as the
general public, with information on workplace develop
ments in the safety and health field.
Both bl s and o s h a are keenly aware of the need for— and
the difficulties in securing— accurate information on in
juries and illnesses in the workplace. First, the identification
of occupational illness has been a longstanding problem.
Occupational illness often develops over a long period of
time, and the causal relationship to the workplace is fre
quently very difficult to establish. Second, problems can
occur in recording injuries in the workplace. The fact that
employers and workers do not fully understand the record
keeping definitions or fail to record injuries for some other
reason may result in underrecording of job-related injuries
and fatalities.
For some time, bl s and o s h a have been investigating
methods for evaluating the quality of the occupational safety
and health data and for improving these data where neces
sary. This article reports on one of these initiatives: a pilot
project to test the feasibility of a case-by-case comparison of
the employer’s o s h a recordkeeping log with medical
records, workers’ compensation reports, and other material
at the business establishment.
William M. Eisenberg is Assistant Commissioner, Office of Safety,
Health, and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics: Helen
McDonald is an economist in the same office.
58
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Description of the project
The pilot project involved a visit by o s h a inspectors to
evaluate recordkeeping in a random sample of approxi
mately 200 manufacturing establishments with more than 10
employees— half of the establishments were in Massachu
setts and half in Missouri, bl s selected the sample of estab
lishments, developed the test procedures, and provided
some training to o s h a staff in the procedures to be used in
record checking, o s h a compliance officers, who have the
legal authority to inspect medical records, conducted the
onsite record checks, b l s reviewed and evaluated the test
results.
Each onsite check at the sampled establishment consisted
of four parts:
• Interviews with the recordkeeper regarding practices for
recording work injuries and illnesses (forms used, etc.)
and the manner in which the process took place.
• Questioning of recordkeepers about the definitions and
concepts associated with the recordkeeping require
ments.
• Reconstruction of the establishment’s o s h a Log and
Summary of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses from
other records when available, and comparison with the
original log.
• Interviews with employees to (1) determine worker
awareness of the injury and illness records, and (2)
obtain additional information about injuries and ill
nesses at the establishment.
The project was intended to test a procedure and to deter
mine the cost in inspectors’ time; it was not designed to
provide statistical results that could be generalized to the
economy as a whole. Only a small number of establishments
(nearly 200) were visited and about 4,000 injury and illness
recordings were examined. The discussion that follows re
flects only the experience of the establishments in the test;
no conclusions can be drawn from them about the accuracy
of all employer records.
Record review results
Many private sector employers, including the 192 estab
lishments in this test, must complete two o s h a records when
an occupational injury or illness occurs. The first is a oneline entry on the log ( o s h a Form No. 200), which also has
to be included in the log’s yearend summary total. A more
detailed supplementary record ( o s h a Form No. 101) pro
vides worker characteristics and a description of the inci-
dent, with additional information on the nature of the injury
or illness. State workers’ compensation forms may be sub
stituted for the o s h a 101 and frequently are.
Nearly 90 percent of the 192 establishments visited kept
the o sh a log; virtually every one of them had supplementary
records for the injuries and illnesses on the log. Twelve
employers who had no recordable cases kept no log. Nine
other employers, most of whom had fewer than 10 record
able cases, did not keep a log.
In most instances (about 80 percent), the recordkeepers
interviewed said that they had entered recordable cases on
the log within the 6 working days requirement. About 70
percent of the establishments reported that they posted the
yearend summary at the workplace as required during the
month of February.
Decisions on the recordability of cases were made by
management in slightly more than two-fifths of the estab
lishments, and by other business professionals at about
three-tenths of the workplaces. Decisions were made less
often by clerical employees (one-sixth) and by medical pro
fessionals (less than one-tenth).
In the test, o s h a compliance officers found that they were
able to question the person who actually kept the records
about the definitions used. A special effort at more intensive
questioning would be required to test the recordkeeper’s
understanding of the guidelines, however, and this was out
side the scope of the pilot project.
Procedures for evaluating the log
The main purpose of the pilot effort was to test methods
for evaluating the employer’s log. Reviewers were in
structed to access the o s h a Supplementary Record, work
ers’ compensation reports, daily reports of injuries and ill
nesses, employee medical records, company accident
reports, and other insurance records. From these sources,
the reviewer was to independently “reconstruct” the log for
1986 and then compare the reconstructed log with the orig
inal kept by the employer. The reviewer was to discuss any
differences with the employer to obtain additional informa
tion to assist in understanding any discrepancies that might
be found.
In the 192 establishments visited, employers recorded
nearly 4,000 cases on their logs for 1986. o sh a reviewers
found overrecording in 15 percent of these cases, that is, the
employer recorded cases that, under the bls Recordkeeping
Guidelines for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses,1 were
not supposed to be recorded. On the other hand, underrecording, that is, recordable cases that were not entered on
the logs, were found in about one-fifth of the total record
able cases in these companies. Virtually all of the over
recording involved cases with no lost worktime, whereas the
undercounted injuries and illnesses were about equally split
between those with no lost worktime and those involving
lost workdays. Overall, lost workday cases were under
recorded by about one-fourth in these establishments. Some
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
of this underrecording was due to employers entering lost
workday cases on their logs as no-lost-time cases. Con
versely, injuries and illnesses without lost workdays were
overrecorded by nearly one-fifth.
Overall, the lost workdays associated with lost workday
cases were undercounted by almost one-fourth. Nearly half
of the undercounted days were found in 55 long-term cases.
In addition, about one-half of the lost workdays undercount
involved days of restricted work activity. Restricted work
activity is the inability to perform normal job duties during
a work shift rather than actual absence from work.
Only one case resulting in a fatality was found during the
review, and it was accurately recorded on the log.
Employee interviews
The employee interview portion of the project had two
purposes: (1) to test a method for obtaining information
from employees concerning their awareness of and partici
pation in the recording process, and (2) to learn if employees
knew of any cases that should have been on the log but had
not been recorded.
About 1,250 employees were interviewed— about 4 in
every 100 employed in the 192 establishments. Although 70
percent of the establishments reported that a summary of the
log had been posted as required in the workplace, only about
2 out of 5 of the interviewed workers recalled having seen
it. A few employees reported having seen the log on other
occasions, such as during safety meetings. Although em
ployees have the right to see the log upon request, only one
of those interviewed had initiated such a request.
Virtually all of the employees contacted who had experi
enced work-related injuries or illnesses told o sh a interview
ers that they had reported them to their employer, but it was
not possible in many cases to determine whether some of the
injuries, especially those with no lost workdays, were
recordable. The employees did, however, identify 221 lost
time injuries and illnesses that reviewers confirmed to be
recordable. All but 29 of these had been listed on the log,
although not always as lost-time cases.
There were several instances in which a 1985 event was
reported by an employee as having occurred in 1986, indi
cating a telescoping of time in the recall process. In addi
tion, some employees were unable to identify all of their
1986 injuries and illnesses.
Summary and evaluation
The major objective of the test was achieved in that the
reviewers were generally able to access medical records and
other supplementary information to permit an evaluation of
the logs. A second objective was to determine the cost in
resource time to carry out the plan. As indicated, nearly 200
establishments were visited, and about 1,250 workers were
interviewed. Although the procedures had been carefully
designed to minimize use of resources, the process proved
to consume considerable resources. The establishment
59
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Research Summaries
records check— the record reviews, interviews, related
compliance activities, and followup work outside the estab
lishment— took o s h a compliance officers an average of 40
hours (5 workdays) per establishment to complete. The re
construction of the employer log was the most timeconsuming part of the process.
The lack of employee listings, absenteeism, and different
work shifts made it difficult at times to select or contact
employees. In some situations, employees who were injured
or ill in 1986 were intentionally selected for interview to
provide more information on their 1986 cases. Experience
with these employee interviews and those with people re
sponsible for keeping the employer log, while useful, sug
gests the need for further research on ways to expand the
detail requested and to ensure full understanding of the
questions asked.
---------FO O TN O TE---------A c k n o w l e d g m e n t : The records checks were planned and conducted by
the following o s h a area office personnel: Mary Gayle, Warren Huse,
William Lander, Frank Pagliuca, and Marie Sullivan in Massachusetts; and
Ted Bach, Sandra Jenkins, Diana Lee Gandy, Jean Marshall, and Mary
Wehmeier in Missouri. Joanne Goodell, o f the o s h a Policy Directorate
directed the program. The following staff members in the b ls Office of
Safety, Health, and Working Conditions contributed to the development,
processing, and analysis of the results of the project: Stephen Newell,
Robert Moore, Elyce Biddle, Maryrose Cline-Buso, and Janice Windau.
1 The b ls guidelines provide interpretation of the recordkeeping require
ments o f the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and Title 29,
Pt. 1904, of the Code of Federal Regulations.
A movable beast: changing patterns
of regional unemployment
R ic h a r d
M.
D e v e n s , Jr .
At yearend 1987, the current expansion reached 61 months,
the longest peacetime expansion on record. From the reces
sion trough in November 1987, employment rose by about
14.6 million, the number of jobless fell, b^ almost 5 million,
and the unemployment rate dropped from 10.8 percent to
5.8 percent.
As in other years, there were wide differences in the
incidence of unemployment among the State and regional
labor markets in 1987. New Hampshire had the lowest aver
age rate of unemployment for the year— 2.6 percent— while
Louisiana, West Virginia, Alaska, and Mississippi had un
employment rates in double digits. On a regional basis, New
England reported the lowest unemployment rate— 3.4 per
cent. In contrast, the West South Central division, which
Richard M. Devens, Jr., is an economist in the Division of Labor Force
Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
60
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
includes Louisiana, saw 8.9 percent of its labor force
jobless.
Over the last decade or so, the relative situations of the
regions have shifted considerably. In the mid-1970’s,
higher-than-average unemployment rates were basically a
bicoastal phenomenon. In 1976, the Northeast census re
gion— which includes New England— and the West Coast
States— especially California and Washington— had much
more severe unemployment problems than the geographic
center of the country.1 (See table 1.) Much was made at the
time of intractable structural economic problems: “the frostbelt,” the presumed obsolescence of the Northeastern indus
trial base, the changing demographics of the West Coast’s
growing labor force, and the migration of manufacturing
employment to the expanding South and Southwest.
Following the recessions of the early 1980’s, however, a
significantly different regional pattern of unemployment
began to emerge. In 1983, relatively high unemployment
rates2 were concentrated in a broad band of Eastern and
Central States. (See chart 1.) Structural decline was still
evident in the labor markets of the traditionally industrial
East North Central division, but the effect of recession on
manufacturing jobs also took a toll on the more newly indus
trialized East South Central States of Alabama, Kentucky,
Mississippi, and Tennessee. Louisiana also experienced
high unemployment, as oil prices declined and high-cost
exploration and production ventures in the Gulf of Mexico
were curtailed.
In 1986, the fourth year of recovery, another pattern of
regional unemployment rates started to become apparent.
The New England States had all moved to the lowunemployment group, and several of the East North Central
States had unemployment rates fairly close to the improving
national average.
By 1987, the new pattern was more clearly developed.
The geographic axis of relatively high unemployment had
shifted from North-South to basically East-West. (See chart
1.) The northeastern States, by now including New York, a
beneficiary of a rapid buildup in financial services, and New
Jersey, well-positioned as a transportation services and re
gional retailing center, had jobless rates well below the
national level. The coastal States in the northern tier of the
South Atlantic division were also in good shape. State un
employment rates 20 percent or more above the national
average of 6.2 percent started in West Virginia and Ken
tucky and broadened through the West South Central divi
sion, before sweeping out to Washington State by way of
Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho. High unemployment thus
was largely concentrated in States whose economies were
most dependent on energy production. California, in con
trast to its position a decade before, was now among the
States with near-average unemployment.
Over the current 5-year expansion, the relative dispersion
of State unemployment rates has increased, which, on the
surface suggests a trend toward polarization of State
Chart 1.
State unemployment rates, 1983 and 1987
1987
JD S '
1
|---------I______I
More than 20 percent b e lo w U.S. average
unemployment rate
□
Within 20 percent of U.S. average unemployment rate
■■■■[
More than 20 percent a b o ve U.S. average
unemployment rate
NOTE: U.S. average unemployment rate was 9.6 percent in 1983 and 6.2 percent in 1987.
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61
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Research Summaries
Table 1. Unemployment rates by State, selected years,
1976-87
S ta te
Alabama ................................
A laska....................................
Arizona ..................................
Arkansas ................................
California................................
Colorado ................................
Connecticut............................
Delaware................................
District of Columbia ...............
Florida....................................
G eorgia..................................
H a w aii....................................
Idaho.......................................
Illinois ....................................
Indiana ..................................
Iowa ......................................
Kansas ..................................
Kentucky................................
Louisiana................................
Maine ....................................
M aryland................................
Massachusetts.......................
Michigan ................................
Minnesota ..............................
Mississippi..............................
Missouri..................................
Montana ................................
Nebraska................................
Nevada ..................................
New Hampshire.....................
1976
1983
1986
6.8
8.0
13.7
10.3
9.1
9.8
7.8
10.8
10.8
6.2
8.1
9.8
7.1
9.2
5.9
9.5
8.9
9.1
9.0
8.1
9.8
5.7
6.5
6.1
10.1
9.7
6.6
6.0
8.1
11.7
8.6
6.9
8.7
6.7
7.4
3.8
4.3
7.7
5.7
1987
5.8
7.7
3.3
3.2
6.3
5.3
7.5
6.5
9.8
11.4
5.9
4.8
8.7
5.5
3.8
8.1
11.1
8.1
6.1
6.7
7.0
5.4
9.3
13.1
5.3
7.4
6.4
5.5
4.9
8.0
4.0
4.2
5.6
11.7
6.8
11.8
8.9
9.0
6.8
6.9
6.9
14.2
4.5
3.8
8.8
8.2
8.2
12.6
5.3
11.7
10.2
9.5
9.4
5.9
6.6
6.2
6.1
8.8
9.9
6.1
3.3
9.0
6.4
5.7
9.8
5.4
5.0
New J e rs e y ............................
New M exico............................
New Y o rk................................
North C a rolina........................
North D a kota..........................
Ohio ......................................
Oklahoma ..............................
Oregon ..................................
Pennsylvania..........................
Rhode Isla n d ..........................
10.4
9.1
10.3
10.1
8.6
South Carolina........................
South Dakota..........................
Tennessee ..............................
Texas ....................................
Utah ......................................
Vermont..................................
Virginia ..................................
W ashington............................
West V irg inia..........................
Wisconsin ..............................
W yom ing................................
6.2
7.8
8.9
5.6
8.1
6.0
2.8
5.0
9.2
6.3
5.3
6.3
8.8
12.0
4.4
4.2
3.2
5.4
6.3
7.4
4.9
6.3
2.5
4.0
8.9
4.9
4.5
5.2
7.0
7.4
3.6
7.8
5.6
9.5
7.9
10.8
11.8
8.5
6.2
6.8
8.1
8.3
4.0
5.7
3.8
6.9
3.4
10.0
6.2
5.4
11.5
4.7
8.0
8.9
6.0
5.7
5.7
8.7
5.9
8.7
7.5
5.6
4.1
12.2
9.0
9.2
6.9
6.1
11.2
18.0
10.4
8.4
8.1
8.2
8.0
6.0
4.7
5.0
8.2
11.8
7.0
9.0
5.6
4.2
6.6
8.4
6.4
3.6
4.2
7.6
10.8
6.1
8.6
performance. However, such a pattern is typical, reflecting
an arithmetic process that may be illustrated by a simple
example. Assume that the national unemployment rate is 10
percent at some time and over the course of the next year
every State’s jobless rate falls by 5 points. The national rate
will then improve to roughly 5 percent, but the standard
deviation of the State rates will not change and the ratio of
that figure to the national rate, the “coefficient of varia
tion,”— a statistical measure of relative dispersion— will
actually increase.
62
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Although this helps explain why the relative dispersion of
State unemployment rates seems larger in the recent years
that have been part of a prolonged recovery, there still
remains the challenging task of explaining the differences
among the levels of State unemployment rates. In efforts to
reduce the problem to its elements, analysts have often
concentrated on industry mix and economic shock factors.3
The rapidly changing pattern of State and regional unem
ployment rates described in this article suggests that the
differentials are clearly not a function of relatively stable
differences in regional attributes, such as industry distribu
tion or demographics, but rather of a fairly rapidly changing
economic environment. For example, Rhode Island and
Massachusetts are neighboring States with unemployment
rates that are now well below the Nation’s. Both were near
the top of the table in 1976, and both have been part of the
general resurgence of the New England economy. But, their
industry distributions and policy mixes are quite different.
Massachusetts is the prototypical high-tech State combined
with a strong regional financial services center, while Rhode
Island has much of its work force engaged in such relatively
low-wage, traditional manufacturing industries as apparel
and jewelry.4 While Massachusetts has experimented with
broad business development programs on the part of the
State government, the citizens of Rhode Island explicitly
rejected such a comprehensive approach in a 1984 referen
dum.
From this example, and the dramatic changes in the spa
tial patterns of State unemployment outlined earlier, one
might conclude that tomorrow’s winner cannot easily be
projected from today’s characteristics, policies, or leader
ship position.
------ F O O T N O T E S -----1 Susan Elizabeth Shank, “Changes in regional unemployment over the
last decade,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v i e w , March 1985, pp. 17-23. The current
paper is essentially an update of Shank’s more detailed article.
2 States with unemployment rates 20 percent or more lower than that
year’s national rate are unshaded in the chart accompanying this article.
States with unemployment rates 20 percent or more above the Nation’s are
shaded black. States whose jobless rates are within 20 percent o f the
national figure are gray.
3 Philip L. Rones, “An analysis of regional employment growth, 1937—
8 5 M o n th ly L a b o r R e v i e w , June 1986, pp. 4 -1 3 . Rones’ comments and
references concerning shift-share analysis, the impact o f migration, and the
role o f economic shocks are especially useful.
4 Howard Kurtz, “Rhode Island: Rags to Riches,” T h e W a sh in g to n P o s t ,
Feb. 8, 1988.
M ajor Agreements
Expiring Next M onth
This list of selected collective bargaining agreements expiring in May is based on information
collected by the Bureau’s Office of Compensation and Working Conditions. The list includes
agreements covering 1,000 workers or more. Private industry is arranged in order of Standard
Industrial Classification.
In d u str y o r a c tiv ity
E m p lo y e r a n d lo c a tio n
L a b o r o r g a n iz a tio n !
N u m b er o f
w ork ers
Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts and one other
(Massachusetts)
Builders Association of Chicago (Illinois).............................................
Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association (Chicago, IL) ....................
Southwestern Michigan Contractors Association (Michigan) ................
Omaha Building Contractors Employers Association (Nebraska) ........
Calumet Builders Association (Gary, i n ) ...................................................................
Associated General Contractors, Oregon-Columbia Chapter
(Oregon and Washington)
Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association, heavy and highway
(Chicago, IL)
Laborers...........................................
6,000
Bricklayers........................................
Carpenters ........................................
Laborers...........................................
Laborers...........................................
Carpenters ........................................
Operating Engineers ........................
5,000
12,000
1,400
1,700
2,400
2,000
Operating Engineers ........................
1,000
Laborers...........................................
Laborers...........................................
1,000
4,000
Laborers............................................
Carpenters .......................................
1,000
6,000
Operating Engineers ........................
6,000
Boilermakers ....................................
1,200
P r iv a te
Construction....................................
Building Trades Employers Association (Syracuse, NY) ......................
Construction Industries of Massachusetts, Inc., heavy and highway
(Massachusetts)
Wisconsin Road Builders Association (Wisconsin)................................
Associated General Contractors, Oregon-Columbia Chapter
(Oregon and Washington)
Associated General Contractors, building, highway and tunnel
(Arizona)
Boilermakers Employers Association of Western Pennsylvania
(Pennsylvania)
Ironworkers Employers Association of Western Pennsylvania
(Pennsylvania)
Mechanical Contractors Association of Western Pennsylvania
(Pennsylvania)
Sheet Metal Contractors Association (Chicago, IL) ..............................
Painting a n d Decorating Contractors of America (Chicago, I L ) ............
Associated Steel Erectors of Chicago (Illinois)......................................
Electrical Contractors Association of the City of Chicago (Illinois) . . .
Plumbing Contractors Association of Chicago and Cook County
(Illinois)
Iron Workers ....................................
1,500
Plumbers .........................................
1,200
Sheet Metal Workers........................
Painters ...........................................
Iron Workers ....................................
Electrical Workers ( i b e w ) ................
Plumbers .........................................
4,000
6,000
1,750
11,000
5,400
Mechanical Contractors Association (Chicago, i l ) ................................
Sheet Metal Employers Association (Detroit, m i ) .................................
National Electrical Contractors Association (Milwaukee, wi) ..............
Chicago Roofing Contractors Association (Illinois) ..............................
National Electrical Contractors Association (San Francisco, C A ) ..........
National Electrical Contractors Association (Colorado) ........................
Contract Administration Fund of Northeastern Colorado and one other
(Colorado)
National Electrical Contractors Association (Seattle, w a ) ............................
Plumbers .........................................
Sheet Metal Workers........................
Electrical Workers ( i b e w ) ................
Roofers.............................................
Electrical Workers ( i b e w ) ................
Electrical Workers ( i b e w ) ......................
Plumbers .........................................
7,000
2,000
1,300
2,400
2,500
1,800
1,400
Electrical Workers
( i b e w ) ......................
1,300
Food products ................................
Tobacco ..........................................
Campbell Soup Co. (Sacramento, C A ) ........................................................................
American Tobacco Co. (North Carolina)...............................................
1,400
2,400
Textiles ..........................................
Knitted Outerwear Manufacturers Association (Pennsylvania)..............
J. P. Stevens & Co. (Roanoke Rapids, NC) ..........................................
New York Coat and Suit Association and others (Interstate)................
Cotton Dress and Juvenile Apparel Association (New York, NY) ........
Affiliated Dress Association Manufacturers Inc. (Interstate) ................
National Association of Blouse Manufacturers Inc. (Interstate)............
New England Sportswear Manufacturers Association
(Boston and vicinity, MA)
New England Clothing and Rainwear Manufacturers Association
(Boston, m a )
Teamsters.........................................
Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco
Workers
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
Clothing and Textile Workers ........
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
4,000
3,500
15,000
2,000
20,000
3,300
2,000
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
2,000
Apparel .........................................
See footnote at end of table.
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
Industry or activity
April 1988 •
Major Agreements Expiring Next Month
New England Apparel Manufacturers Association (Fall River,
Lumber............................................
Paper ..............................................
Chemicals ......................................
Stone, clay, and glass products . ..
Fabricated metal products..............
Machinery ......................................
Electrical products..........................
Transportation equipment ..............
Trucking.........................................
Communication ..............................
Utilities .........................................
Labor organization1
Employer and location
ma)
...
W orkers................
W orkers................
W orkers................
W orkers................
19,900
3,800
1,650
1,100
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
25,000
4,000
4,500
Roseburg Lumber Co. (Oregon).............................................................
Western States Wood Products Employers Association (Interstate) . . . .
Weyerhaeuser Co. (Interstate) ...............................................................
Simpson Lumber Co. (Interstate)...........................................................
Nekoosa-Edwards Paper Co. (Nekoosa and Port Edwards, w i ) ............
E. R. Squibb and Sons, Inc. (New Brunswick, NJ) ..............................
American Standard, Inc. (Interstate) .....................................................
The Stanley Works (New Britain, CT)...................................................
Carpenters and Woodworkers..........
Carpenters and Woodworkers..........
Various unions..................................
Various unions..................................
Paperworkers ....................................
Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers .
Glass, Pottery, Plastics ....................
Machinists ........................................
2,800
34,000
7,500
1,350
1,500
1,300
1,100
2,100
Ingersoll-Rand Co. (Painted Post, NY) ..................................................
Tecumseh Products Co. (Tecumseh, mi) ...............................................
Carrier Corp. (Morrison, tn) .................................................................
Magnavox Co. (Fort Wayne, IN) ...........................................................
Whirlpool Corp. (St. Joseph, MI)...........................................................
Avco Corp., Lycoming Division (Stratford, CT)....................................
Dana Corp., Weatherhead Division (Indiana and O hio)........................
National Master Automobile Transporters Agreement (Interstate)........
Garment Industry Trucking Associations (New York and
New Jersey)
Hawaii Telephone Co. (Hawaii).............................................................
Houston Lighting and Power Co. (Texas)..............................................
Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (Indiana) ......................................
Public Service Co. of Indiana, Inc. (Indiana) ........................................
Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. (Interstate) ........................................
Electrical Workers (iue) ..................
United Products Workers (Ind.) . . . .
Sheet Metal W orkers........................
Industrial W orkers............................
Machinists ........................................
Auto Workers ..................................
Auto Workers ..................................
Teamsters.........................................
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
1,000
1,300
1,250
1,600
1,200
2,000
1,200
21,000
2,200
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
Steelworkers ....................................
Electrical Workers (ibew) ................
Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers .
3,200
4,600
3,700
1,800
1,200
Teamsters and Longshoremen and
Warehousemen
Food and Commercial Workers . . . .
Food and Commercial Workers . . . .
Teamsters.........................................
25,000
Industrial Employers and Distributors Association (California)............
Retail trade ....................................
First National Stores, Inc. (Connecticut)................................................
Star Markets (Rhode Island and Massachusetts) ....................................
Master Laundry Agreement (Michigan)..................................................
1 Affiliated with
64
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
a f l -cio
except where noted as independent (Ind.).
Ladies’ Garment
Ladies’ Garment
Ladies’ Garment
Ladies’ Garment
3,200
Greater Blouse, Skirt and Undergarment Association (New York, NY)
United Knitwear Manufacturers League (New York, ny) ....................
National Skirt and Sportswear Association, Inc. (New York, NY) . . . .
National Women’s Neckwear and Scarf Association, Inc.
(New York, NY)
Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association (Pennsylvania)......................
Infants’ and Children’s Coat Association (New York, NY) ..................
Association of Garment Contractors, ladies sportswear (Boston, ma) ..
Wholesale tra d e ..............................
Services ..........................................
Ladies’ Garment W orkers................
Number of
workers
4,050
1,200
1,100
Developments in
Industrial Relations
Oil, coal settlements
Possible interruptions in the Nation’s energy supply were
averted when the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers
( o c a w ) settled with petroleum refining and distributing
companies, and the United Mine Workers settled with bitu
minous coal producers. The round of o c a w settlements,
which follwed the terms of a lead-off accord with American
Oil Co., did result in brief work stoppages over local issues
at a few refineries, but the impact was minimal as manage
ment employees kept the highly automatic facilities in oper
ation. In soft coal, there were union threats of work stop
pages at a few companies that were not members of the
Bituminous Coal Operators Association, the industry’s bar
gaining leader, but the stoppages were averted when the
independent producers accepted the same terms as the Asso
ciation. (Before the Mine Workers-Bituminous Coal Opera
tors Association settlement, other independents had signed
interim “me too” agreements prohibiting work stoppages by
Mine Workers members and pledging the companies to ac
cept the same terms as the Association.)
The American O ü - o c a w contract included a $900 lump
sum payment to employees upon ratification, a 30-cent-anhour wage increase effective February 1, and a 3-percent
increase in February 1989. Amoco also agreed to increase
its financing of health insurance by $10 a month for family
coverage in the first year and by $2 in the second year. The
contract covered 4,000 workers.
The wage and benefit terms of the American O ü - o c a w
settlement were expected to eventually apply to about
40,000 workers covered by 300 contracts with 60 compa
nies. Among the first companies to settle on pattern con
tracts were Atlantic Richfield Co., Ashland Oil Inc., Shell
Oil Co., Union Oil Co., and Conoco Inc.
The coal contract is effective for 5 years, compared with
40 months for the 1984 contract and the usual 3 years for
earlier contracts. According to Mine Workers President
Richard Trumka, the contract emphasized job opportunities
for union members, as there were about 30,000 members on
layoff and about 60,000 still working in the soft coal fields
at the time of the settlement. The economic difficulties for
Mine Workers members and their employers are generally
attributed to plentiful supplies of moderate cost petroleum
“Developments in Industrial Relations” is prepared by George Ruben of the
Division o f Developments in Labor-Management Relations, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, and is largely based on information from secondary
sources.
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and to growing coal production in western open pit mines,
where employees are generally nonunion, or members of
other unions.
Under the new job opportunity provisions, laid-off Mine
Workers members gained
• The right to the first three of every five jobs available at
nonunion operations of companies that have other opera
tions covered by the contract.
• The right to all jobs in operations that their employer
leases out to other companies.
• The right to “panel” (apply their recall rights) at all of
their employer’s operations. (Previously, laid-off workers
could only panel the company’s operations in the Mine
Workers district in which the job was located or in one
contiguous district.
• New training and education programs financed by em
ployer payments which the union expects to total $20 mil
lion over the contract term.
Economic provisions of the agreement included hourly
wage increases of 25 cents on February 1, 1988, 35 cents on
February 1, 1989, and 45 cents on February 1, 1990, bring
ing the top rate for an underground miner to $16,615 an
hour, or $132.92 a day. The union also has the option to
reopen bargaining on wages and pensions after the third and
fourth contract years.
Pension changes already adopted include increases for
those who began drawing benefits prior to December 6,
1974: a $40 a month increase for normal retirees with 20
years’ service, bringing their monthly benefits to $375; a
$40 increase for disability retirees, bringing their monthly
benefits to 217.50; and a $20 increase for surviving spouses,
bringing their benefits to $125.
For those who began drawing benefits after December 5,
1974, but prior to the February 1, 1988, effective date of the
new contract— under a separate plan providing for gradu
ated benefit levels based on years of service and age at
retirement— the increases were a flat $30 a month for nor
mal and disability retirees, and for surviving spouses was
raised to 75 percent (formerly 50 percent) of the amount the
retiree had been receiving.
All steps of the graduated formula for employees retiring
on normal pension during the contract term also were in
creased. The new maximum is $32 a month for each year of
service after February 1, 1990, for workers retiring at age
62. Previously, the maximum for age 62 retirees was $18.50
for each year of service in excess of 30.
65
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Developments in Industrial Relations
Employees who retire during the first 2 years of the con
tract as a result of mine accidents will receive a monthly
benefit of at least $190 and those who retire in the third year
will receive at least $200. (They will recieve a normal pen
sion if it amounts to more than the $190 or $200 minimum.)
The previous minimum was $170 a month. For surviving
spouses, the benefit was raised to 75 percent (formerly 50
percent) of the deceased person’s entitlement.
The accord also provided for a retirement savings plan
under provision 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code, al
lowing employees to invest up to 10 percent of their earn
ings, with taxes on the investment and any resulting gains
deferred until the participant withdraws money from the
fund. Other terms included a $1,000 increase in the death
benefit to the beneficiary of deceased pensioners; a $20
increase in sickness and accident benefits, to $220 a week;
a $5,000 increase in the employees’ $30,000 life insurance
coverage for natural death and a $10,000 increase in their
60,000 coverage for accidental death; and a $10 increase in
the $170 annual clothing allowance.
Honeywell consolidates seniority groups
In. Minneapolis, m n , 6,300 employees of Honeywell
Inc.’s electronic products plant were covered by a 2-year
contract negotiated by Local 1145 of the Teamsters union.
The accord provided for a single pay increase, 4 percent,
effective immediately. Initially, Honeywell had proposed a
3-year wage freeze.
Another major issue was resolved when the parties agreed
to increase the employees’ share of monthly hospitalmedical-surgical insurance premiums to $13.25, from
$9.25, for single workers and to $26.50, from $18.50, for
married workers. The plan will continue to cover all fees
and charges (the company withdrew its proposal that em
ployees pay up to $3,000 a year in coinsurance and de
ductibles).
The separate 4-year pension agreement raised the benefit
rate for current employees to $25 a month, from $22, for
each year of credited service. There also was a $1 increase
in the rates for current retirees.
The other important contract change was consolidation of
42 separate seniority groups into one, which the company
proposed to increase flexibility in work assignments. Ac
cording to the union, employees in danger of layoff will also
benefit because they will be able to bid on a much larger
number of jobs, if they have the required skills. Honeywell
also agreed to pay guarantees of up to 1 year for employees
who lose jobs or are bumped into lower paying jobs. The
company guaranteed that employees will not be laid off as
a result of production increases resulting from the new sys
tem.
Yale settlement averts planned stoppage
In New Haven, c t , Yale University settled with two lo
cals of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees,
averting a planned work stoppage involving 3,600 em66
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ployees. One of the unions represents clerical and technical
workers, and the other, food service and maintenance work
ers. The 4-year agreement, the longest ever negotiated by
Yale, provided for 6-percent annual pay increases.
Another feature of the settlement was a restructuring of
the job classifications systems, which the union contended
had led to “economic discrimination” against women and
minority group members because pay rates were too closely
grouped and supervisors’ assignment of employees to
grades was arbitrary. Under the new system, the number of
grades was reduced and supervisors will have less discretion
in writing job descriptions.
Other provisions gave Yale more freedom in subcontract
ing work and increased training courses for employees.
Both sides said that they hoped that the accord signaled a
reversal of the turbulent bargaining relationship of the past
20 years, which was marked by five work stoppages, includ
ing a 10-week stoppage in 1984.
Safety program revamped at Bath Iron Works
Labor relations at Bath Iron Works took a turn for the
better when the shipbuilding firm and three unions cooper
ated in a revamping of the safety program that boded well
for mid-1988 bargaining on wages and benefits, in contrast
with 1985, when a 3-month work stoppage occurred.
In signing the new safety agreement, union and manage
ment representatives expressed hope that the revamping
would convince the Department of Labor’s Occupational
Safety and Health Administration of their commitment to
safety and lead to a reduction of the record $4.2 million fine
o s h a had proposed for Bath in October 1987 after finding
more than 3,000 alleged violations constituting a “serious
threat” to employees.
Regardless of the outcome of the continuing legal action
against the company, both management and the unions said
the safety agreement would stand. The 37-point agreement,
which was expected to cost Bath $6 million over its 3-year
term, called for:
•
•
•
•
Hiring a qualified director of safety.
Hiring 16 safety inspectors and laboratory employees.
Establishing a joint safety committee.
Discontinuing the safety awards program and review
ing possible alternatives.
• Substantially modifiying work sites and equipment to
reduce dangers.
• Sending firefighters to o s h a training programs.
• Training safety department employees in assuring
compliance with o s h a regulations.
• Developing plans for in-house safety inspections at
least every 3 months at the three facilities, which are
located in Maine.
• Inviting o s h a to conduct a complete inspection in
1990.
The unions involved in the settlement were the Marine
and Shipbuilding Workers, the Marine Draftsmen’s Associ
ation, and the Independent Guards Association.
Current
Labor Statistics
Schedule of release dates for major
Notes on Current Labor Statistics
bls
statistical series
.........................
........................................................................
...................................................................................................................
68
......... ....................
69
1. Labor market indicators........................... .....................................................................................................................................................................
2. Annual and quarterly percent changes in compensation, prices, andproductivity ...........................................................................................
3. Alternative measures of wage and compensation changes ............................................................
78
79
79
Comparative indicators
Labor force data
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Employment status o f the total population, data seasonally ad ju sted ..................................................................................................................
Employment status of the civilian population, data seasonally adjusted .............................................................................................................
Selected employment indicators, data seasonally adjusted ...................................................................................................................................
Selected unemployment indicators, data seasonally adjusted ..............................................................................................................................
Unemployment rates by sex and age, data seasonally adjusted ...............................
Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment, data seasonally ad ju sted ....................................................................
Duration o f unemployment, data seasonally adjusted ............................................................................................................................................
Unemployment rates of civilian workers, by State ................................................................................................................................................
Employment o f workers by State ......................................................................
Employment o f workers by industry, data seasonally adjusted..................................................................................................
Average weekly hours by industry, data seasonally adjusted ..............................................................................................................................
Average hourly earnings by industry .........................................................................................................................................................................
Average weekly earnings by industry ................................................................................................................................. ........................................
Hourly Earnings Index by industry............................................................. ................................................................................................................
Indexes o f diffusion: proportion of industries in which employment increased, seasonally adjusted ......................................................
Annual data: Employment status o f the noninstitutional population ..................................................
Annual data: Employment levels by industry ........................................................................................................................................................
Annual data: Average hours and earnings levels by industry.............................................................................................................................
80
81
82
83
84
84
84
85
85
86
87
88
89
89
90
90
90
91
Labor compensation and collective bargaining data
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
Employment Cost Index, compensation, by occupation and industry group ..................................................................................................
Employment Cost Index, wages and salaries, by occupation and industry g r o u p .........................................................................................
Employment Cost Index, private nonfarm workers, by bargaining status, region, and area s i z e ..............................................................
Specified compensation and wage adjustments from contract settlements, and effective wage adjustments,
situations covering 1,000 workers or more ..................................................................................................................... ................................... ....
Average specified compensation and wage adjustments, bargaining situations covering 1,000 workers or m o r e .................................
Average effective wage adjustments, bargaining situations covering 1,000 workers or more ..................................................................
Specified compensation and wage adjustments, State and local government bargaining
situations covering 1,000 workers or more .......................................................................................................... ...................................................
Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more ................................................................................................................................................
92
93
94
94
95
96
96
97
Price data
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
Consumer Price Index: U .S. city average, by expenditure category and commodity and service g ro u p s................................................
Consumer Price Index: U .S. city average and local data, all ite m s ......................................................................................
Annual data: Consumer Price Index, all items and major groups .........................................
Producer Price Indexes by stage of processing ................................................................. ......................................................, ...................... ..
Producer Price Indexes, by durability of product .............................................................................................................................. ....................
Annual data: Producer Price Indexes by stage o f p ro cessin g ...................................... ........................ ................... ..........................................
U .S. export price indexes by Standard International Trade C lassification .......................................................................................................
U .S. import price indexes by Standard International Trade C lassification.......................................................................................................
U .S. export price indexes by end-use category
...................................................
U .S. import price indexes by end-use ca teg o ry ..................
U .S. export price indexes by Standard Industrial C lassification.........................................................................................................................
U .S. import price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification .......................................................................................................................
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98
101
102
103
104
104
105
106
107
107
107
108
67
MONTHLY LABOR
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics
Contents—Continued
Productivity data
42. Indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, and unit costs, data seasonally adjusted .............................................................................
43. Annual indexes of multifactor productivity ..............................................................................................................................................................
44. Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and p r ic e s.................................................................................................
108
109
110
International comparisons
45. Unemployment rates in nine countries, data seasonally adjusted ........................................................................................................................
46. Annual data: Employment status o f civilian working-age population, ten countries ....................................................................................
47. Annual indexes of productivity and related measures, twelve countries ......... .................................................................................................
Ill
112
113
Injury and illness data
48. Annual data: Occupational injury and illness incidence r a tes...............................................................................................................................
Schedule of release dates for
S e r ie s
b l s
114
statistical series
R e le a s e
P e r io d
R e le a s e
P e r io d
R e le a s e
P e r io d
MLR t a b le
d a te
c o v e re d
d a te
c o v e re d
d a te
c o v e re d
num ber
1; 4-21
Employment situation .................................
April 1
March
May 6
April
June 3
May
Producer Price In d e x ....................................
April 15
March
May 13
April
June 10
May
2; 3 3 -3 5
Consumer Price In d e x .................................
April 20
March
May 20
April
June 21
May
2; 3 0 -3 2
Real earnings ...............................................
April 20
March
May 20
April
June 21
May
14-17
Major collective bargaining
settlements ...............................................
April 26
1st quarter
3 ,2 5 -2 8
Employment Cost Index
............................
April 26
1st quarter
1 -3 ;2 2 -2 4
U.S. Import and Export
Price Ind e xes.............................................
April 28
1st quarter
36-41
Productivity and cost:
Nonfarm business and manufacturing . .
Nonfinancial co rp ora tio ns........................
68
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May 2
1st quarter
2; 4 2 -4 4
Ju n e 6
1st quarter
2; 4 2-44
NOTES ON CURRENT LABOR STATISTICS
This section o f the Review presents the principal statistical series collected
and calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: series on labor force,
employment, unemployment, collective bargaining settlements, consumer,
producer, and international prices, productivity, international comparisons,
and injury and illness statistics. In the notes that follow, the data in each
group o f tables are briefly described, key definitions are given, notes on the
data are set forth, and sources of additional information are cited.
Adjustments for price changes. Some data— such as the Hourly
Earnings Index in table 17— are adjusted to eliminate the effect of changes
in price. These adjustments are made by dividing current dollar values by
the Consumer Price Index or the appropriate component of the index, then
multiplying by 100. For example, given a current hourly wage rate o f $3
and a current price index number of 150, where 1977 = 100, the hourly rate
expressed in 1977 dollars is $2 ($3/150 X 100 = $2). The $2 (or any other
resulting values) are described as “real,” “constant,” or “ 1977” dollars.
General notes
Additional information
The following notes apply to several tables in this section:
Seasonal adjustment.
Certain monthly and quarterly data are adjusted
to eliminate the effect on the data of such factors as climatic conditions,
industry production schedules, opening and closing of schools, holiday
buying periods, and vacation practices, which might prevent short-term
evaluation o f the statistical series. Tables containing data that have been
adjusted are identified as “seasonally adjusted.” (All other data are not
seasonally adjusted.) Seasonal effects are estimated on the basis of past
experience. When new seasonal factors are computed each year, revisions
may affect seasonally adjusted data for several preceding years. (Season
ally adjusted data appear in tables 1 -3 , 4 -1 0 , 13, 14, 17, and 18.) Begin
ning in January 1980, the bls introduced two major modifications in the
seasonal adjustment methodology for labor force data. First, the data are
seasonally adjusted with a procedure called x - n a r i m a , which was devel
oped at Statistics Canada as an extension of the standard x - ii method
previously used by bls. A detailed description of the procedure appears in
The x - u a r im a Seasonal Adjustment Method by Estela Bee Dagum (Statis
tics Canada, Catalogue No. 12-564E, February 1980). The second change
is that seasonal factors are calculated for use during the first 6 months of
the year, rather than for the entire year, and then are calculated at midyear
for the July-December period. However, revisions o f historical data con
tinue to be made only at the end o f each calendar year.
Seasonally adjusted labor force data in tables 1 and 4 -1 0 were revised
in the February 1988 issue of the Review, to reflect experience through
1987.
Annual revisions o f the seasonally adjusted payroll data shown in tables
13, 14, and 18 were made in the July 1987 Review using the X - i i a r im a
seasonal adjustment methodology. New seasonal factors for productivity
data in table 42 are usually introduced in the September issue. Seasonally
adjusted indexes and percent changes from month to month and from
quarter to quarter are published for numerous Consumer and Producer Price
Index series. However, seasonally adjusted indexes are not published for
the U .S. average All Items c p i . Only seasonally adjusted percent changes
are available for this series.
Data that supplement the tables in this section are published by the
Bureau in a variety of sources. News releases provide the latest statistical
information published by the Bureau; the major recurring releases are
published according to the schedule preceding these general notes. More
information about labor force, employment, and unemployment data and
the household and establishment surveys underlying the data are available
in Employment and Earnings, a monthly publication of the Bureau. More
data from the household survey are published in the two-volume data
book— Labor Force Statistics D erived From the Current Population Sur
vey, Bulletin 2096. More data from the establishment survey appear in two
data books— Employment, Hours, and Earnings, United States, and Em
ployment, Hours, and Earnings, States and Areas, and the annual supple
ments to these data books. More detailed information on employee com
pensation and collective bargaining settlements is published in the monthly
periodical, Current Wage Developments. More detailed data on consumer
and producer prices are published in the monthly periodicals, The c p i
D etailed Report, and Producer Prices and Price Indexes. Detailed data on
all of the series in this section are provided in the Handbook o f Labor
Statistics, which is published biennally by the Bureau, bls bulletins are
issued covering productivity, injury and illness, and other data in this
section. Finally, the Monthly Labor Review carries analytical articles on
annual and longer term developments in labor force, employment, and
unemployment; employee compensation and collective bargaining; prices;
productivity; international comparisons; and injury and illness data.
Symbols
p = preliminary. To increase the timeliness of some series, prelim
inary figures are issued based on representative but incom
plete returns.
r = revised. Generally, this revision reflects the availability o f later
data but may also reflect other adjustments,
n.e.c. = not elsewhere classified,
n.e.s. = not elsewhere specified.
COMPARATIVE INDICATORS
(Tables 1-3)
Comparative indicators tables provide an overview and comparison of
major bls statistical series. Consequently, although many o f the included
series are available monthly, all measures in these comparative tables are
presented quarterly and annually.
Labor market indicators include employment measures from two ma
jor surveys and information on rates of change in compensation provided
by the Employment Cost Index ( e c i ) program. The labor force participation
rate, the employment-to-population ratio, and unemployment rates for
major demographic groups based on the Current Population (“household ”)
Survey are presented, while measures of employment and average weekly
hours by major industry sector are given using nonagricultural payroll data.
The Employment Cost Index (compensation), by major sector and by
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bargaining status, is chosen from a variety of bls compensation and wage
measures because it provides a comprehensive measure of employer costs
for hiring labor, not just outlays for wages, and it is not affected by
employment shifts among occupations and industries.
Data on changes in compensation, prices, and productivity are pre
sented in table 2. Measures of rates of change o f compensation and wages
from the Employment Cost Index program are provided for all civilian
nonfarm workers (excluding Federal and household workers) and for all
private nonfarm workers. Measures of changes in: consumer prices for all
urban consumers; producer prices by stage of processing; and the overall
export and import price indexes are given. Measures of productivity (output
per hour of all persons) are provided for major sectors.
69
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics
Alternative measures of wage and compensation rates of change,
which reflect the overall trend in labor costs, are summarized in table 3.
Differences in concepts and scope, related to the specific purposes o f the
series, contribute to the variation in changes among the individual mea
sures.
Notes on the data
Definitions o f each series and notes on the data are contained in later
sections of these notes describing each set of data. For detailed descriptions
o f each data series, see b l s Handbook o f Methods, Volumes I and II,
Bulletins 2134-1 and 2 1 34-2 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982 and 1984,
respectively), as well as the additional bulletins, articles, and other publi
cations noted in the separate sections of the R eview ’s “Current Labor
Statistics N otes.” Historical data for many series are provided in the Hand
book o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985).
Users may also wish to consult M ajor Programs, Bureau of Labor Statis
tics, Report 718 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985).
EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT DATA
(Tables 1; 4-21)
Household survey data
Description of the series
in this section are obtained from the Current Population
Survey, a program o f personal interviews conducted monthly by the Bureau
o f the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The sample consists of
about 59,500 households selected to represent the U .S. population 16 years
o f age and older. Households are interviewed on a rotating basis, so that
three-fourths o f the sample is the same for any 2 consecutive months.
the various data series appear in the Explanatory Notes of Employment and
Earnings.
Data in tables 4 -1 0 are seasonally adjusted, based on the seasonal
experience through December 1987.
em plo ym en t d a t a
Definitions
Employed persons include (1) all civilians who worked for pay any time
during the week which includes the 12th day of the month or who worked
unpaid for 15 hours or more in a family-operated enterprise and (2) those
who were temporarily absent from their regular jobs because of illness,
vacation, industrial dispute, or similar reasons. Members o f the Armed
Forces stationed in the United States are also included in the employed
total. A person working at more than one job is counted only in the job at
which he or she worked the greatest number o f hours.
Unemployed persons are those who did not work during the survey
week, but were available for work except for temporary illness and had
looked for jobs within the preceding 4 weeks. Persons who did not look for
work because they were on layoff or waiting to start new jobs within the
next 30 days are also counted among the unemployed. The overall unem
ployment rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the labor
force, including the resident Armed Forces. The civilian unemployment
rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor
force.
The labor force consists of all employed or unemployed civilians plus
members o f the Armed Forces stationed in the United States. Persons not
in the labor force are those not classified as employed or unemployed; this
group includes persons who are retired, those engaged in their own house
work, those not working while attending school, those unable to work
because o f long-term illness, those discouraged from seeking work because
o f personal or job-market factors, and those who are voluntarily idle. The
noninstitutional population comprises all persons 16 years of age and
older who are not inmates of penal or mental institutions, sanitariums, or
homes for the aged, infirm, or needy, and members of the Armed Forces
stationed in the United States. The labor force participation rate is the
proportion o f the noninstitutional population that is in the labor force. The
employment-population ratio is total employment (including the resident
Armed Forces) as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
Notes on the data
From time to time, and especially after a decennial census, adjustments
are made in the Current Population Survey figures to correct for estimating
errors during the preceding years. These adjustments affect the comparabil
ity o f historical data. A description of these adjustments and their effect on
70
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Additional sources of information
For detailed explanations o f the data, see b l s Handbook o f M ethods,
Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 1, and for
additional data, Handbook o f Labor S tatistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 1985). A detailed description o f the Current Population
Survey as well as additional data are available in the monthly Bureau of
Labor Statistics periodical, Employment and Earnings. Historical data
from 1948 to 1981 are available in Labor Force Statistics D erived from the
Current Population Survey: A D atabook, Vols. I and II, Bulletin 2096
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982).
A comprehensive discussion of the differences between household and
establishment data on employment appears in Gloria P. Green, “Comparing
employment estimates from household and payroll surveys,” Monthly
Labor Review, December 1969, pp. 9 -2 0 .
Establishment survey data
Description of the series
e a r n in g s d a t a in this section are compiled from
payroll records reported monthly on a voluntary basis to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics and its cooperating State agencies by more than 290,000
establishments representing all industries except agriculture. In most indus
tries, the sampling probabilities are based on the size of the establishment;
most large establishments are therefore in the sample. (An establishment is
not necessarily a firm; it may be a branch plant, for example, or ware
house.) Self-employed persons and others not on a regular civilian payroll
are outside the scope o f the survey because they are excluded from estab
lishment records. This largely accounts for the difference in employment
figures between the household and establishment surveys.
E m p lo y m e n t , hours, a n d
Definitions
An establishment is an economic unit which produces goods or services
(such as a factory or store) at a single location and is engaged in one type
of economic activity.
Employed persons are all persons who received pay (including holiday
and sick pay) for any part o f the payroll period including the 12th o f the
month. Persons holding more than one job (about 5 percent o f all persons
in the labor force) are counted in each establishment which reports them.
Production workers in manufacturing include working supervisors and
all nonsupervisory workers closely associated with production operations.
Those workers mentioned in tables 12-17 include production workers in
manufacturing and mining; construction workers in construction; and non
supervisory workers in the following industries: transportation and public
utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and
services. These groups account for about four-fifths of the total employ
ment on private nonagricutural payrolls.
Earnings are the payments production or nonsupervisory workers re
ceive during the survey period, including premium pay for overtime or
late-shift work but excluding irregular bonuses and other special payments.
Real earnings are earnings adjusted to reflect the effects of changes in
consumer prices. The deflator for this series is derived from the Consumer
Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers ( c p i - w ). The
Hourly Earnings Index is calculated from average hourly earnings data
adjusted to exclude the effects of two types of changes that are unrelated
to underlying wage-rate developments: fluctuations in overtime premiums
in manufacturing (the only sector for which overtime data are available)
and the effects o f changes and seasonal factors in the proportion of workers
in high-wage and low-wage industries.
Hours represent the average weekly hours o f production or nonsupervi
sory workers for which pay was received and are different from standard
or scheduled hours. Overtime hours represent the portion of average
weekly hours which was in excess of regular hours and for which overtime
premiums were paid.
The Diffusion Index, introduced in the May 1983 R eview , represents
the percent o f 185 nonagricultural industries in which employment was
rising over the indicated period. One-half of the industries with unchanged
employment are counted as rising. In line with Bureau practice, data for
the 1-, 3-, and 6-month spans are seasonally adjusted, while those for the
12-month span are unadjusted. The diffusion index is useful for measur
ing the dispersion o f economic gains or losses and is also an economic
indicator.
Notes on the data
Establishment data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are peri
odically adjusted to com prehensive counts o f em ploym ent (called
“benchmarks”). The latest complete adjustment was made with the release
o f May 1987 data, published in the July 1987 issue of the Review. Conse
quently, data published in the Review prior to that issue are not necessarily
comparable to current data. Unadjusted data have been revised back to
April 1985; seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January
1982. These revisions were published in the Supplement to Employment
and Earnings (Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1987). Unadjusted data from
April 1986 forward, and seasonally adjusted data from January 1983 for
ward are subject to revision in future benchmarks.
In the establishment survey, estimates for the 2 most recent months are
based on incomplete returns and are published as preliminary in the tables
(13 to 18 in the R eview). When all returns have been received, the esti
mates are revised and published as final in the third month of their appear
ance. Thus, August data are published as preliminary in October and
November and as final in December. For the same reason, quarterly estab
lishment data (table 1) are preliminary for the first 2 months of publication
and final in the third month. Thus, second-quarter data are published as
preliminary in August and September and as final in October.
Additional sources of information
Detailed national data from the establishment survey are published
monthly in the b ls periodical, Employment and Earnings. Earlier compara
ble unadjusted and seasonally adjusted data are published in Employment,
Hours, and Earnings, United States, 1909-84, Bulletin 1312-12 (Bureau
of Labor Statistics, 1985) and its annual supplement. For a detailed discus
sion of the methodology of the survey, see b l s Handbook o f Methods,
Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 2. For addi
tional data, see Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 1985).
A comprehensive discussion of the differences between household and
establishment data on employment appears in Gloria P. Green, “Comparing
employment estimates from household and payroll surveys,” Monthly
Labor Review, December 1969, pp. 9 -2 0 .
Unemployment data by State
Description of the series
Data presented in this section are obtained from two major sources— the
Current Population Survey ( cps ) and the Local Area Unemployment Statis
tics ( l a u s ) program, which is conducted in cooperation with State employ
ment security agencies.
Monthly estimates of the labor force, employment, and unemployment
for States and sub-State areas are a key indicator of local economic condi
tions and form the basis for determining the eligibility of an area for
benefits under Federal economic assistance programs such as the Job Train
ing Partnership Act and the Public Works and Economic Development Act.
Insofar as possible, the concepts and definitions underlying these data are
those used in the national estimates obtained from the c p s .
Notes on the data
Data refer to State of residence. Monthly data for 11 States— California,
Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, North
Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas— are obtained directly from the
c ps , because the size of the sample is large enough to meet bls standards
of reliability. Data for the remaining 39 States and the District o f Columbia
are derived using standardized procedures established by b l s . Once a year,
estimates for the 11 States are revised to new population controls. For the
remaining States and the District of Columbia, data are benchmarked to
annual average cps levels.
Additional sources of information
Information on the concepts, definitions, and technical procedures used
to develop labor force data for States and sub-State areas as well as addi
tional data on sub-States are provided in the monthly Bureau of Labor
Statistics periodical, Employment and Earnings, and the annual report,
Geographic Profile o f Employment and Unemployment (Bureau of Labor
Statistics). See also b l s Handbook o f Methods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau o f
Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 4.
COMPENSATION AND WAGE DATA
(Tables 1-3; 22-29)
C o m p e n s a t io n a n d w a g e d a t a are gathered by the Bureau from business
establishments, State and local governments, labor unions, collective bar
gaining agreements on file with the Bureau, and secondary sources.
Employment Cost Index
Description of the series
The Employment Cost Index ( e c i ) is a quarterly measure of the rate of
change in compensation per hour worked and includes wages, salaries, and
employer costs o f employee benefits. It uses a fixed market basket of
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labor— similar in concept to the Consumer Price Index’s fixed market
basket of goods and services— to measure change over time in employer
costs of employing labor. The index is not seasonally adjusted.
Statistical series on total compensation costs and on wages and salaries
are available for private nonfarm workers excluding proprietors, the selfemployed. and household workers. Both series are also available for State
and local government workers and for the civilian nonfarm economy,
which consists of private industry and State and local government workers
combined. Federal workers are excluded.
The Employment Cost Index probability sample consists of about 2,200
private nonfarm establishments providing about 12,000 occupational ob
servations and 700 State and local government establishments providing
71
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988
•
C u rren t L a b o r S ta tistics
3,500 occupational observations selected to represent total employment in
each sector. On average, each reporting unit provides wage and compensa
tion information on five well-specified occupations. Data are collected each
quarter for the pay period including the 12th day of March, June, Septem
ber, and December.
Beginning with June 1986 data, fixed employment weights from the
1980 Census o f Population are used each quarter to calculate the indexes
for civilian, private, and State and local governments. (Prior to June 1986,
the employment weights are from the 1970 Census o f Population.) These
fixed weights, also used to derive all of the industry and occupation series
indexes, ensure that changes in these indexes reflect only changes in com
pensation, not employment shifts among industries or occupations with
different levels o f wages and compensation. For the bargaining status,
region, and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area series, however, employ
ment data by industry and occupation are not available from the census.
Instead, the 1980 employment weights are reallocated within these series
each quarter based on the current sample. Therefore, these indexes are not
strictly comparable to those for the aggregate, industry, and occupation
series.
Definitions
Total compensation costs include wages, salaries, and the employer’s
costs for employee benefits.
Wages and salaries consist of earnings before payroll deductions, in
cluding production bonuses, incentive earnings, commissions, and cost-ofliving adjustments.
Benefits include the cost to employers for paid leave, supplemental pay
(including nonproduction bonuses), insurance, retirement and savings
plans, and legally required benefits (such as Social Security, workers’
compensation, and unemployment insurance).
Excluded from wages and salaries and employee benefits are such items
as payment-in-kind, free room and board, and tips.
Notes on the data
The Employment Cost Index data series began in the fourth quarter of
1975, with the quarterly percent change in wages and salaries in the private
nonfarm sector. Data on employer costs for employee benefits were in
cluded in 1980 to produce, when combined with the wages and salaries
series, a measure o f the percent change in employer costs for employee
total compensation. State and local government units were added to the eci
coverage in 1981, providing a measure of total compensation change in the
civilian nonfarm economy (excluding Federal employees). Historical in
dexes (June 1981 = 100) of the quarterly rates of change are presented in the
May issue o f the bls monthly periodical, Current Wage Developments.
(wage and benefit costs) and wages alone, quarterly for private industry and
semiannually for State and local government. Compensation measures
cover all collective bargaining situations involving 5,000 workers or more
and wage measures cover all situations involving 1,000 workers or more.
These data, covering private nonagricultural industries and State and local
governments, are calculated using information obtained from bargaining
agreements on file with the Bureau, parties to the agreements, and second
ary sources, such as newspaper accounts. The data are not seasonally
adjusted.
Settlement data are measured in terms of future specified adjustments:
those that will occur within 12 months after contract ratification— firstyear— and all adjustments that will occur over the life of the contract
expressed as an average annual rate. Adjustments are worker weighted.
Both first-year and over-the-life measures exclude wage changes that may
occur under cost-of-living clauses that are triggered by future movements
in the Consumer Price Index.
Effective wage adjustments measure all adjustments occurring in the
reference period, regardless o f the settlement date. Included are changes
from settlements reached during the period, changes deferred from con
tracts negotiated in earlier periods, and changes under cost-of-living adjust
ment clauses. Each wage change is worker weighted. The changes are
prorated over all workers under agreements during the reference period
yielding the average adjustment.
Definitions
Wage rate changes are calculated by dividing newly negotiated wages
by the average hourly earnings, excluding overtime, at the time the agree
ment is reached. Compensation changes are calculated by dividing the
change in the value o f the newly negotiated wage and benefit package by
existing average hourly compensation, which includes the cost o f previ
ously negotiated benefits, legally required social insurance programs, and
average hourly earnings.
Compensation changes are calculated by placing a value on the benefit
portion of the settlements at the time they are reached. The cost estimates
are based on the assumption that conditions existing at the time o f settle
ment (for example, methods of financing pensions or composition o f labor
force) will remain constant. The data, therefore, are measures of negotiated
changes and not of total changes in employer cost.
Contract duration runs from the effective date of the agreement to the
expiration date or first wage reopening date, if applicable. Average annual
percent changes over the contract term take account o f the compounding of
successive changes.
Additional sources of information
Notes on the data
For a more detailed discussion of the Employment Cost Index, see the
Handbook o f Methods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982),
chapter 11, and the fo llo w in g M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w articles:
“Employment Cost Index: a measure o f change in the ‘price o f labor’,” July
1975; “How benefits will be incorporated into the Employment Cost In
dex,” January 1978; “Estimation procedures for the Employment Cost
Index,” May 1982; and “Introducing new weights for the Employment Cost
Index,” June 1985.
Data on the eci are also available in bls quarterly press releases issued
in the month following the reference months of March, June, September,
and December; and from the Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217
(Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1985).
Care should be exercised in comparing the size and nature o f the settle
ments in State and local government with those in the private sector because
of differences in bargaining practices and settlement characteristics. A
principal difference is the incidence of cost-of-living adjustment (cola)
clauses which cover only about 2 percent of workers under a few local
government settlements, but cover 50 percent of workers under private
sector settlements. Agreements without cola’s tend to provide larger speci
fied wage increases than those with cola’s . Another difference is that State
and local government bargaining frequently excludes pension benefits
which are often prescribed by law. In the private sector, in contrast,
pensions are typically a bargaining issue.
C ollective bargaining settlem ents
Description of the series
Collective bargaining settlements data provide statistical measures of
negotiated adjustments (increases, decreases, and freezes) in compensation
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Additional sources of information
For a more detailed discussion on the series, see the b l s Handbook o f
Methods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 10.
Comprehensive data are published in press releases issued quarterly (in
January, April, July, and October) for private industry, and semi-
annually (in February and August) for State and local government. Histor
ical data and additional detailed tabulations for the prior calendar year
appear in the April issue of the bls monthly periodical, C u r r e n t W a g e
monthly periodical, C u r r e n t W a g e D e v e lo p m e n ts . Historical data appear in
the b l s H a n d b o o k o f L a b o r S ta t is tic s .
D e v e lo p m e n ts .
Other compensation data
Work stoppages
Other bls data on pay and benefits, not included in the Current Labor
Statistics section o f the M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , appear in and consist o f the
following:
Description of the series
Data on work stoppages measure the number and duration of major
strikes or lockouts (involving 1,000 workers or more) occurring during the
month (or year), the number of workers involved, and the amount o f time
lost because o f stoppage.
Data are largely from newspaper accounts and cover only establishments
directly involved in a stoppage. They do not measure the indirect or second
ary effect o f stoppages on other establishments whose employees are idle
owing to material shortages or lack of service.
Definitions
Number of stoppages: The number of strikes and lockouts involving
1,000 workers or more and lasting a full shift or longer.
Workers involved: The number o f workers directly involved in the
stoppage.
Number of days idle: The aggregate number o f workdays lost by
workers involved in the stoppages.
Days of idleness as a percent of estimated working time: Aggregate
workdays lost as a percent of the aggregate number of standard workdays
in the period multiplied by total employment in the period.
Notes on the data
This series is not comparable with the one terminated in 1981 that
covered strikes involving six workers or more.
Additional sources of information
Data for each calendar year are reported in a bls press release issued in
the first quarter o f the following year. Monthly data appear in the b l s
I n d u s tr y W a g e S u r v e y s provide data for specific occupations selected to
represent an industry’s wage structure and the types of activities performed
by its workers. The Bureau collects information on weekly work schedules,
shift operations and pay differentials, paid holiday and vacation practices,
and information on incidence o f health, insurance, and retirement plans.
Reports are issued throughout the year as the surveys are completed.
Summaries of the data and special analyses also appear in the M o n th ly
L a b o r R e v ie w .
A r e a W a g e S u r v e y s annually provide data for selected office, clerical,
professional, technical, maintenance, toolroom, powerplant, material
movement, and custodial occupations common to a wide variety o f indus
tries in the areas (labor markets) surveyed. Reports are issued throughout
the year as the surveys are completed. Summaries of the data and special
analyses also appear in the R e v ie w .
T h e N a tio n a l S u r v e y o f P r o fe s s io n a l, A d m in is tr a tiv e , T e c h n ic a l, a n d
C le r ic a l P a y provides detailed information annually on salary levels and
distributions for the types of jobs mentioned in the survey’s title in private
employment. Although the definitions of the jobs surveyed reflect the
duties and responsibilities in private industry, they are designed to match
specific pay grades of Federal white-collar employees under the General
Schedule pay system. Accordingly, this survey provides the legally re
quired information for comparing the pay of salaried employees in the
Federal civil service with pay in private industry. (See Federal Pay Com
parability Act of 1970, 5 u.s.c. 5305.) Data are published in a bls news
release issued in the summer and in a bulletin each fall; summaries and
analytical articles also appear in the R e v ie w .
E m p lo y e e B e n e fits S u r v e y provides nationwide information on the inci
dence and characteristics o f employee benefit plans in medium and large
establishments in the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Data are
published in an annual bls news release and bulletin, as well as in special
articles appearing in the R e v ie w .
PRICE DATA
(Tables 2; 30-41)
Price data are gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from retail and
primary markets in the United States. Price indexes are given in relation to
a base period (1982 = 100 or 1982-84 = 100), unless otherwise noted).
Consumer Price Indexes
Description of the series
The Consumer Price Index (cpi) is a measure of the average change in
the prices paid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket o f goods and
services. The cpi is calculated monthly for two population groups, one
consisting only o f urban households whose primary source of income is
derived from the employment o f wage earners and clerical workers, and the
other consisting o f all urban households. The wage earner index (cpi- w) is
a continuation o f the historic index that was introduced well over a halfcentury ago for use in wage negotiations. As new uses were developed for
the cpi in recent years, the need for a broader and more representative index
became apparent. The all urban consumer index (cpi- u), introduced in
1978, is representative o f the 1982-84 buying habits of about 80 percent
o f the noninstitutional population of the United States at that time, com
pared with 32 percent represented in the cpi- w . In addition to wage earners
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and clerical workers, the cpi- u covers professional, managerial, and tech
nical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed,
retirees, and others not in the labor force.
The cpi is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, fuel, drugs, trans
portation fares, doctors’ and dentists’ fees, and other goods and services
that people buy for day-to-day living. The quantity and quality o f these
items are kept essentially unchanged between major revisions so that only
price changes will be measured. All taxes directly associated with the
purchase and use of items are included in the index.
Data collected from more than 21,000 retail establishments and 60,000
housing units in 91 urban areas across the country are used to develop the
“U .S. city average.” Separate estimates for 27 major urban centers are
presented in table 31. The areas listed are as indicated in footnote 1 to the
table. The area indexes measure only the average change in prices for each
area since the base period, and do not indicate differences in the level of
prices among cities.
Notes on the data
In January 1983, the Bureau changed the way in which homeownership
costs are measured for the cpi-U. A rental equivalence method replaced the
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW April 1988 •
C u r r e n t L a b o r S ta tis tic s
asset-price approach to homeownership costs for that series. In January
1985, the same change was made in the cpi- w . The central purpose of the
change was to separate shelter costs from the investment component of
homeownership so that the index would reflect only the cost o f shelter
services provided by owner-occupied homes. An updated cpi-u and cpi-w
were introduced with release of the January 1987 data.
Additional sources of information
For a discussion o f the general method for computing the cpi, see b l s
Handbook o f Methods, Volume II, The Consumer P rice Index, Bulletin
2 1 3 4 -2 (Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1984). The recent change in the mea
surement o f homeownership costs is discussed in Robert Gillingham and
Walter Lane, “Changing the treatment of shelter costs for homeowners in
the cpi,” Monthly Labor Review, July 1982, pp. 9 -1 4 . An overview o f the
recently introduced revised cpi, reflecting 1982-84 expenditure patterns, is
contained in The Consumer Price Index: 1987 R evision, Report 736 (Bu
reau o f Labor Statistics, 1987).
Additional detailed cpi data and regular analyses of consumer price
changes are provided in the c p i D etailed Report, a monthly publication of
the Bureau. Historical data for the overall cpi and for selected groupings
may be found in the Handbook o f Labor S tatistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau
o f Labor Statistics, 1985).
Producer Price Indexes
Description of the series
Producer Price Indexes (ppi) measure average changes in prices re
ceived in primary markets of the United States by producers of commodi
ties in all stages o f processing. The sample used for calculating these
indexes currently contains about 3,100 commodities and about 75,000
quotations per month selected to represent the movement of prices of all
commodities produced in the manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, fishing,
mining, gas and electricity, and public utilities sectors. The stage of proc
essing structure o f Producer Price Indexes organizes products by class of
buyer and degree o f fabrication (that is, finished goods, intermediate
goods, and crude materials). The traditional commodity structure of ppi
organizes products by similarity of end use or material composition.
To the extent possible, prices used in calculating Producer Price Indexes
apply to the first significant commercial transaction in the United States
from the production or central marketing point. Price data are generally
collected monthly, primarily by mail questionnaire. Most prices are ob
tained directly from producing companies on a voluntary and confidential
basis. Prices generally are reported for the Tuesday of the week containing
the 13th day o f the month.
Since January 1987, price changes for the various commodities have
been averaged together with implicit quantity weights representing their
importance in the total net selling value of all commodities as of 1982. The
detailed data are aggregated to obtain indexes for stage-of-processing
groupings, commodity groupings, durability-of-product groupings, and a
number of special composite groups. All Producer Price Index data are
subject to revision 4 months after original publication.
Notes on the data
Beginning with the January 1986 issue, the Review is no longer present
ing tables o f Producer Price Indexes for commodity groupings, special
composite groups, or sic industries. However, these data will continue to
be presented in the Bureau’s monthly publication Producer Price Indexes.
The Bureau has completed the first major stage o f its comprehensive
overhaul o f the theory, methods, and procedures used to construct the
Producer Price Indexes. Changes include the replacement of judgment
sampling with probability sampling techniques; expansion to systematic
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coverage of the net output of virtually all industries in the mining and
manufacturing sectors; a shift from a commodity to an industry orientation;
the exclusion of imports from, and the inclusion of exports in, the survey
universe; and the respecification of commodities priced to conform to
Bureau of the Census definitions. These and other changes have been
phased in gradually since 1978. The result is a system of indexes that is
easier to use in conjunction with data on wages, productivity, and employ
ment and other series that are organized in terms of the Standard Industrial
Classification and the Census product class designations.
Additional sources of information
For a discussion of the methodology for computing Producer Price In
dexes, see b l s Handbook o f M ethods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau o f Labor
Statistics, 1982), chapter 7.
Additional detailed data and analyses of price changes are provided
monthly in Producer Price Indexes. Selected historical data may be found
in the Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 1985).
International Price Indexes
Description of the series
The bls International Price Program produces quarterly export and
import price indexes for nonmilitary goods traded between the United
States and the rest of the world. The export price index provides a measure
of price change for all products sold by U .S. residents to foreign buyers.
(“Residents” is defined as in the national income accounts: it includes
corporations, businesses, and individuals but does not require the organiza
tions to be U .S. owned nor the individuals to have U .S. citizenship.) The
import price index provides a measure of price change for goods purchased
from other countries by U .S. residents. With publication of an all-import
index in February 1983 and an all-export index in February 1984, all U .S.
merchandise imports and exports now are represented in these indexes. The
reference period for the indexes is 1977 = 100, unless otherwise indicated.
The product universe for both the import and export indexes includes raw
materials, agricultural products, semifinished manufactures, and finished
manufactures, including both capital and consumer goods. Price data for
these items are collected quarterly by mail questionnaire. In nearly all
cases, the data are collected directly from the exporter or importer, al
though in a few cases, prices are obtained from other sources.
To the extent possible, the data gathered refer to prices at the U .S. border
for exports and at either the foreign border or the U .S. border for imports.
For nearly all products, the prices refer to transactions completed during the
first 2 weeks of the third month of each calendar quarter— March, June,
September, and December. Survey respondents are asked to indicate all
discounts, allowances, and rebates applicable to the reported prices, so that
the price used in the calculation of the indexes is the actual price for which
the product was bought or sold.
In addition to general indexes of prices for U .S. exports and imports,
indexes are also published for detailed product categories of exports and
imports. These categories are defined by the 4- and 5-digit level o f detail
of the Standard Industrial Trade Classification System (su e). The calcula
tion of indexes by srre category facilitates the comparison of U .S. price
trends and sector production with similar data for other countries. Detailed
indexes are also computed and published on a Standard Industrial Classifi
cation (sic-based) basis, as well as by end-use class.
Notes on the data
The export and import price indexes are weighted indexes o f the
Laspeyres type. Price relatives are assigned equal importance within each
weight category and are then aggregated to the srre level. The values
assigned to each weight category are based on trade value figures compiled
by the Bureau o f the Census. The trade weights currently used to compute
both indexes relate to 1980.
Because a price index depends on the same items being priced from
period to period, it is necessary to recognize when a product’s specifica
tions or terms o f transaction have been modified. For this reason, the
Bureau’s quarterly questionnaire requests detailed descriptions o f the phys
ical and functional characteristics of the products being priced, as well as
information on the number of units bought or sold, discounts, credit terms,
packaging, class o f buyer or seller, and so forth. When there are changes
in either the specifications or terms of transaction o f a product, the dollar
value o f each change is deleted from the total price change to obtain the
“pure” change. Once this value is determined, a linking procedure is
employed which allows for the continued repricing of the item.
For the export price indexes, the preferred pricing basis is f.a.s. (free
alongside ship) U .S. port of exportation. When firms report export prices
f.o.b. (free on board), production point information is collected which
enables the Bureau to calculate a shipment cost to the port of exportation.
An attempt is made to collect two prices for imports. The first is the import
price f.o.b. at the foreign port of exportation, which is consistent with the
basis for valuation of imports in the national accounts. The second is the
import price c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) at the U .S. port o f impor
tation, which also includes the other costs associated with bringing the
product to the U .S. border. It does not, however, include duty charges.
Additional sources of information
For a discussion of the general method of computing International Price
Indexes, see b l s Handbook o f M ethods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau o f Labor
Statistics, 1982), chapter 8.
Additional detailed data and analyses of international price develop
ments are presented in the Bureau’s quarterly publication U.S. Import and
Export Price Indexes and in occasional Monthly Labor Review articles
prepared by b ls analysts. Selected historical data may be found in the
Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin 2217 (Bureau o f Labor Statistics,
1985).
PRODUCTIVITY DATA
(Tables 2; 42-47)
U. S. productivity and related data
Description of the series
The productivity measures relate real physical output to real input. As
such, they encompass a family o f measures which include single factor
input measures, such as output per unit of labor input (output per hour) or
output per unit o f capital input, as well as measures o f multifactor produc
tivity (output per unit o f labor and capital inputs combined). The Bureau
indexes show the change in output relative to changes in the various inputs.
The measures cover the business, nonfarm business, manufacturing, and
nonfinancial corporate sectors.
Corresponding indexes of hourly compensation, unit labor costs, unit
nonlabor payments, and prices are also provided.
Unit profits include corporate profits and the value o f inventory adjust
ments per unit of output.
Hours of all persons are the total hours paid o f payroll workers, selfemployed persons, and unpaid family workers.
Capital services is the flow of services from the capital stock used in
production. It is developed from measures o f the net stock of physical
assets— equipment, structures, land, and inventories— weighted by rental
prices for each type o f asset.
Labor and capital inputs combined are derived by combining changes
in labor and capital inputs with weights which represent each component’s
share of total output. The indexes for capital services and combined units
of labor and capital are based on changing weights which are averages of
the shares in the current and preceding year (the Tomquist index-number
formula).
Notes on the data
D efinitions
Output per hour of all persons (labor productivity) is the value of
goods and services in constant prices produced per hour of labor input.
Output per unit of capital services (capital productivity) is the value of
goods and services in constant dollars produced per unit of capital services
input.
Multifactor productivity is the ratio output per unit of labor and capital
inputs combined. Changes in this measure reflect changes in a number of
factors which affect the production process such as changes in technology,
shifts in the composition o f the labor force, changes in capacity utilization,
research and development, skill and efforts of the work force, manage
ment, and so forth. Changes in the output per hour measures reflect the
impact o f these factors as well as the substitution of capital for labor.
Compensation per hour is the wages and salaries of employees plus
employers’ contributions for social insurance and private benefit plans, and
the wages, salaries, and supplementary payments for the self-employed
(except for nonfinancial corporations in which there are no selfemployed)— the sum divided by hours paid for. Real compensation per
hour is compensation per hour deflated by the change in the Consumer
Price Index for All Urban Consumers.
Unit labor costs are the labor compensation costs expended in the
production o f a unit o f output and are derived by dividing compensation by
output. Unit nonlabor payments include profits, depreciation, interest,
and indirect taxes per unit of output. They are computed by subtracting
compensation o f all persons from current dollar value of output and divid
ing by output. Unit nonlabor costs contain all the components of unit
nonlabor payments except unit profits.
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Output measures for the business sector and the nonfarm businesss sector
exclude the constant dollar value of owner-occupied housing, rest of world,
households and institutions, and general government output from the con
stant dollar value o f gross national product. The measures are derived from
data supplied by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U .S. Department of
Commerce, and the Federal Reserve Board. Quarterly manufacturing out
put indexes are adjusted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to annual esti
mates of output (gross product originating) from the Bureau of Economic
Analysis. Compensation and hours data are developed from data o f the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The productivity and associated cost measures in tables 4 2 -4 4 describe
the relationship between output in real terms and the labor time and capital
services involved in its production. They show the changes from period to
period in the amount of goods and services produced per unit of input.
Although these measures relate output to hours and capital services, they
do not measure the contributions of labor, capital, or any other specific
factor of production. Rather, they reflect the joint effect of many influ
ences, including changes in technology; capital investment; level of output;
utilization of capacity, energy, and materials; the organization of produc
tion; managerial skill; and the characteristics and efforts of the work force.
Additional sources of information
Descriptions o f methodology underlying the measurement of output per
hour and multifactor productivity are found in the b l s Handbook o f Meth
ods , Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 13. His
torical data for selected industries are provided in the Bureau’s Handbook
o f Labor Statistics , 1985, Bulletin 2217.
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MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
(Tables 45-47)
Labor force and unemployment
Description of the series
Tables 45 and 46 present comparative measures of the labor force,
employment, and unemployment— approximating U .S. concepts— for the
United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and six European countries. The
unemployment statistics (and, to a lesser extent, employment statistics)
published by other industrial countries are not, in most cases, comparable
to U .S. unemployment statistics. Therefore, the Bureau adjusts the figures
for selected countries, where necessary, for all known major definitional
differences. Although precise comparability may not be achieved, these
adjusted figures provide a better basis for international comparisons than
the figures regularly published by each country.
Definitions
For the principal U .S. definitions of the labor force, employment, and
unemployment, see the Notes section on EMPLOYMENT DATA: House
hold Survey Data.
Notes on the data
The adjusted statistics have been adapted to the age at which compulsory
schooling ends in each country, rather than to the U .S. standard of 16 years
o f age and over. Therefore, the adjusted statistics relate to the population
age 16 and over in France, Sweden, and from 1973 onward, the United
Kingdom; 16 and over in Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, the Nether
lands, and prior to 1973, the United Kingdom; and 14 and over in Italy. The
institutional population is included in the denominator of the labor force
participation rates and employment-population ratios for Japan and Ger
many; it is excluded for the United States and the other countries.
In the U .S. labor force survey, persons on layoff who are awaiting recall
to their job are classified as unemployed. European and Japanese layoff
practices are quite different in nature from those in the United States;
therefore, strict application o f the U .S. definition has not been made on this
point. For further information, see Monthly Labor R eview , December
1981, pp. 8 -1 1 .
The figures for one or more recent years for France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom are calculated using adjustment
factors based on labor force surveys for earlier years and are considered
preliminary. The recent-year measures for these countries are, therefore,
subject to revision whenever data from more current labor force surveys
become available.
Additional sources of information
For further information, see International Comparisons o f Unemploy
m ent, Bulletin 1979 (Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1978), Appendix B and
unpublished Supplements to Appendix B available on request. The statis
tics are also analyzed periodically in the Monthly Labor R eview . Additional
historical data, generally beginning with 1959, are published in the Hand
book o f Labor Statistics and are available in unpublished statistical supple
ments to Bulletin 1979.
Manufacturing productivity and labor costs
Description of the series
Table 47 presents comparative measures of manufacturing labor produc
tivity, hourly compensation costs, and unit labor costs for the United
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States, Canada, Japan, and nine European countries. These measures are
limited to trend comparisons— that is, intercountry series of changes over
time— rather than level comparisons because reliable international com
parisons of the levels of manufacturing output are unavailable.
Definitions
Output is constant value output (value added), generally taken from the
national accounts of each country. While the national accounting methods
for measuring real output differ considerably among the 12 countries, the
use of different procedures does not, in itseff, Connote lack of comparabil
ity— rather, it reflects differences among countries in the availability and
reliability of underlying data series.
Hours refer to all employed persons including the self-employed in the
United States and Canada; to all wage and salary employees in the other
countries. The U .S. hours measure is hours paid; the hours measures for the
other countries are hours worked.
Compensation (labor cost) includes all payments in cash or kind made
directly to employees plus employer expenditures for legally required in
surance programs and contractual and private benefit plans. In addition, for
some countries, compensation is adjusted for other significant taxes on
payrolls or employment (or reduced to reflect subsidies), even if they are
not for the direct benefit of workers, because such taxes are regarded as
labor costs. However, compensation does not include all items o f labor
cost. The costs of recruitment, employee training, and plant facilities and
services— such as cafeterias and medical clinics— are not covered because
data are not available for most countries. Self-employed workers are in
cluded in the U .S. and Canadian compensation figures by assuming that
their hourly compensation is equal to the average for wage and salary
employees.
Notes on the data
For most of the countries, the measures refer to total manufacturing as
defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification. However,
the measures for France (beginning 1959), Italy (beginning 1970), and the
United Kingdom (beginning 1971), refer to manufacturing and mining less
energy-related products and the figures for the Netherlands exclude
petroleum refining from 1969 to 1976. For all countries, manufacturing
includes the activities of government enterprises.
The figures for one or more recent years are generally based on current
indicators of manufacturing output, employment, hours, and hourly com
pensation and are considered preliminary until the national accounts and
other statistics used for the long-term measures become available.
Additional sources of information
For additional information, see the b l s Handbook o f M ethods, Bulletin
2134-1 (Bureau o f Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 16 and periodic Monthly
Labor Review articles. Historical data are provided in the Bureau’s Hand
book o f Labor S tatistics, Bulletin 2217, 1985. The statistics are issued
twice per year— in a news release (generally in May) and in a Monthly
Labor Review article (generally in December).
OCCUPATIONAL INJURY AND ILLNESS DATA
(Table 48)
Description of the series
The Annual Survey o f Occupational Injuries and Illnesses is designed to
collect data on injuries and illnesses based on records which employers in
the following industries maintain under the Occupational Safety and Health
Act of 1970: agriculture, forestry, and fishing; oil and gas extraction;
construction; manufacturing; transportation and public utilities; wholesale
and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and services. Excluded
from the survey are self-employed individuals, farmers with fewer than 11
employees, employers regulated by other Federal safety and health laws,
and Federal, State, and local government agencies.
Because the survey is a Federal-State cooperative program and the data
must meet the needs o f participating State agencies, an independent sam
ple is selected for each State. The sample is selected to represent all pri
vate industries in the States and territories. The sample size for the
survey is dependent upon (1) the characteristics for which estimates are
needed; (2) the industries for which estimates are desired; (3) the charac
teristics o f the population being sampled; (4) the target reliability of the
estimates; and (5) the survey design employed.
While there are many characteristics upon which the sample design could
be based, the total recorded case incidence rate is used because it is one of
the most important characteristics and the least variable; therefore, it re
quires the smallest sample size.
The survey is based on stratified random sampling with a Neyman
allocation and a ratio estimator. The characteristics used to stratify the
establishments are the Standard Industrial Classification (sic) code and size
o f employment.
Definitions
Recordable occupational injuries and illnesses are: (1) occupational
deaths, regardless o f the time between injury and death, or the length of the
illness; or (2) nonfatal occupational illnesses; or (3) nonfatal occupational
injuries which involve one or more of the following: loss of consciousness,
restriction o f work or motion, transfer to another job, or medical treatment
(other than first aid).
Occupational injury is any injury such as a cut, fracture, sprain, ampu
tation, and so forth, which results from a work accident or from exposure
involving a single incident in the work environment.
Occupational illness is an abnormal condition or disorder, other than
one resulting from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to environ
mental factors associated with employment. It includes acute and chronic
illnesses or disease which may be caused by inhalation, absorption, inges
tion, or direct contact.
Lost workday cases are cases which involve days away from work, or
days o f restricted work activity, or both.
Lost workday cases involving restricted work activity are those cases
which result in restricted work activity only.
Lost workdays away from work are the number of workdays (consec
utive or not) on which the employee would have worked but could not
because o f occupational injury or illness.
Lost workdays— restricted work activity are the number of workdays
(consecutive or not) on which, because of injury or illness: (1) the em
ployee was assigned to another job on a temporary basis; or (2) the em
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ployee worked at a permanent job less than full time; or (3) the employee
worked at a permanently assigned job but could not perform all duties
normally connected with it.
The number of days away from work or days of restricted work
activity does not include the day of injury or onset of illness or any days
on which the employee would not have worked even though able to work.
Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and/or illnesses or lost
workdays per 100 full-time workers.
Notes on the data
Estimates are made for industries and employment-size classes and for
severity classification: fatalities, lost workday cases, and nonfatal cases
without lost workdays. Lost workday cases are separated into those where
the employee would have worked but could not and those in which work
activity was restricted. Estimates of the number o f cases and the number of
days lost are made for both categories.
Most of the estimates are in the form of incidence rates, defined as the
number of injuries and illnesses, or lost workdays, per 100 full-time em
ployees. For this purpose, 200,000 employee hours represent 100 em
ployee years (2,000 hours per employee). Only a few of the available
measures are included in the Handbook o f Labor Statistics. Full detail is
presented in the annual bulletin, Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in the
United States, by Industry.
Comparable data for individual States are available from the bls Office
o f Occupational Safety and Health Statistics.
Mining and railroad data are furnished to BLS by the Mine Safety and
Health Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration, respec
tively. Data from these organizations are included in bls and State publica
tions. Federal employee experience is compiled and published by the Occu
pational Safety and Health Administration. Data on State and local
government employees are collected by about half of the States and territo
ries; these data are not compiled nationally.
Additional sources of information
The Supplementary Data System provides detailed information describ
ing various factors associated with work-related injuries and illnesses.
These data are obtained from information reported by employers to State
workers’ compensation agencies. The Work Injury Report program exam
ines selected types o f accidents through an employee survey which focuses
on the circumstances surrounding the injury. These data are not included
in the Handbook o f Labor Statistics but are available from the bls Office
of Occupational Safety and Health Statistics.
The definitions o f occupational injuries and illnesses and lost workdays
are from Recordkeeping Requirements under the Occupational Safety and
Health Act o f 1 9 7 0 . For additional data, see Occupational Injuries and
Illnesses in the United States, by Industry, annual Bureau of Labor
Statistics bulletin; bls Handbook o f M ethods, Bulletin 2134-1 (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 1982), chapter 17; Handbook o f Labor Statistics, Bulletin
2217 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1985), pp. 411-14; annual reports in the
Monthly Labor Review , and annual U .S. Department of Labor press
releases.
77
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988
•
C u rren t L a b o r S ta tistics:
C o m p a ra tive In dicators
1. Labor market indicators
1987
1986
Selected indicators
1987
1986
I
IV
III
II
I
IV
III
II
E m p lo y m e n t d a ta
Employment status of the civilian noninstitutionalized population
(household survey)1
Labor force participation r a te ..............................................................
Employment-population r a tio ...............................................................
Unemployment rate ..............................................................................
Men .......................................................................................................
16 to 24 years .................................................................................
25 yekrs and o v e r ...........................................................................
Women .................................................................................................
16 to 24 years .................................................................................
25 years and o v e r ...........................................................................
Unemployment rate, 15 weeks and o v e r .......................................
65.3
60.7
7.0
6.9
13.7
5.4
7.1
12.8
5.5
1.9
65.6
61.5
6.2
6.2
12.6
4.8
6.2
11.7
4.8
1.7
65.4
60.8
7.0
7.0
13.9
5.4
7.0
12.7
5.4
1.9
65.4
60.9
65.5
61.1
13.4
5.3
7.2
13.1
5.6
1.9
65.2
60.6
7.2
7.0
14.1
5.4
7.3
13.1
5.7
1.9
6.9
13.4
5.4
13.3
5.1
12.5
5.3
1.9
12.5
5.0
65.0
60.5
7.0
6.8
6.8
6.8
6.6
6.6
6.6
65.5
61.4
6.3
6.3
12.9
4.9
6.2
11.8
4.7
1.7
1.8
65.6
61.7
6.0
5.9
12.2
4.6
6.1
11.4
4.7
1.6
65.7
61.9
5.9
5.8
11.9
4.4
6.0
11.1
4.7
1.5
Employment, nonagricultural (payroll data), in thousands:1
Total ...........................................................................................................
Private sector ........................................................................................
G oods-producing...................................................................................
Manufacturing .....................................................................................
Service-producing .................................................................................
99,610
82,900
24,681
18,994
74,930
102,112
85,049
24,884
19,112
77,228
98,901
82,299
24,767
19,086
74,134
99,321
82,670
24,702
19,003
74,619
99,804
83,119
24,629
18,939
75,175
100,397
83,498
24,624
18,953
75,773
101,133
84,183
24,733
18,979
76,399
101,708
84,675
24,757
19,015
76,951
102,278
85,240
24,884
19,134
77,394
103,293
86,069
25,164
19,322
78,129
Average hours:
Private sector ........................................................................................
Manufacturing ..................................................................................
O vertim e..........................................................................................
34.8
40.7
3.4
34.8
41.0
3.7
34.9
40.7
3.4
34.8
40.7
3.4
34.7
40.7
3.5
34.7
40.8
3.5
34.8
41.0
3.6
34.8
40.9
3.7
34.8
40.9
3.7
34.8
41.2
3.9
3.6
3.2
3.1
3.2
5.2
3.6
3.3
3.1
3.7
4.4
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.0
.8
.9
.6
.6
1.1
.7
.6
.8
2.8
.6
.6
.5
.6
.8
.9
.7
.7
.7
.7
.3
2.3
.5
.9
2.1
2.8
.5
3.6
1.0
1.2
.2
3.6
.3
.7
.5
.7
.6
1.1
1.1
.6
E m p lo y m e n t C o s t In d e x
Percent change in the ECI, compensation:
All workers (excluding farm, household, and Federal workers) ......
Private industry workers .....................................................................
Goods-producing2 ............................................................................
Service-producing2 ..........................................................................
State and local government w o rk e rs ...............................................
Workers by bargaining status (private industry):
U n io n ......................................................................................................
Nonunion ...............................................................................................
1
2
Quarterly data seasonally adjusted.
Goods-producing industries include mining, construction, and manufacturing. Service-
Digitized for 78
FRASER
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
.7
.9
.8
1.0
.5
1.3
.8
.5
1.1
producing industries include all other private sector industries.
1.2
1.0
.8
1.0
.8
.7
1.0
2.
Annual and quarterly percent changes in compensation, prices, and productivity
1986
Selected measures
1986
1987
1987
I
II
III
IV
I
II
III
IV
C o m p e n s a t i o n d a t a 1, 2
Employment Cost Index-compensation (wages, salaries,
benefits):
Civilian nonfarm ..........................................................................
Private nonfarm .........................................................................
Employment Cost Index-wages and salaries
Civilian nonfarm ..........................................................................
Private nonfarm .........................................................................
3.6
3.2
3.6
3.3
3.5
3.1
3.5
3.3
1.1
1.1
1.0
1.0
1.1
.8
.8
1.1
0.6
.6
.6
.9
.7
.5
1.0
1.0
1.0
.6
.6
.3
1.4
0.7
.7
0.9
1.2
1.0
0.8
.5
.7
1.3
.7
1.2
1.3
0.7
.7
.7
1.0
.6
P r ic e d a t a 1
Consumer Price Index (All urban consumers): All ite m s ......
Producer Price Index:
Finished g o o d s ............................................................................
Finished consumer g o o d s .......................................................
Capital equipment .....................................................................
Intermediate materials, supplies, comoonents ......................
Crude m ate rials...........................................................................
1.1
-2.3
-3.5
2.1
-4.4
-8.9
-.5
4.4
2.1
2.5
1.3
5.5
8.8
-3.1
-4.0
.5
.4
.2
-3.0
-7.6
1.1
.8
2.1
-.3
.6
-.7
-.7
.6
-.8
-.2
-.6
-.9
-1.5
.8
.9
.1
1.2
1.6
.2
.3
-.2
1.2
.6
.3
1.9
5.3
1.3
4.2
.3
.0
-.3
1.1
1.0
-1.5
P r o d u c tiv ity d a ta 3
Output per hour of all persons:
Business s e c to r.........................................................................
Nonfarm business s e c to r ........................................................
Nonfinancial corporations 4 .....................................................
1.9
.8
2.3
1.9
2.3
“
Annual changes are December-to-December change. Quarterly changes
are calculated using the last month of each quarter. Compensation and price
data are not seasonally adjusted and the price data are not compounded.
2 Excludes Federal and private household workers.
3 Annual rates of change are computed by comparing annual averages.
3.
2.8
2.6
.9
1.6
1.6
1.3
1.8
.2
-.1
0
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.1
.7
1.6
1.5
.8
.4
.3
.2
1.4
1.4
-
Quarterly percent changes reflect annua! rates of change in quarterly in
dexes. The data are seasonally adjusted.
4 Output per hour of all employees.
- Data not available.
Alternative measures of wage and compensation changes
Four quarters ended-
Quarterly average
Components
1987
1986
III
IV
I
Average hourly compensation:1
3.7
3.6
Employment Cost Index-compensatioh:
1.1
.7
.5
.8
.7
3.2
.5
.7
.7
.5
.5
(“)
.8
1.5
.2
.2
.1
2.8
2.7
2.7
.9
.7
.7
.5
.7
.3
.4
.5
.7
.5
.8
.2
1.0
.2
.7
.2
2.6
3.0
2.9
1.2
1.0
.6
1.1
2.3
.9
1.3
2.3
.9
2.0
2.1
1.2
1.8
2.9
2.7
2.4
1.7
2.4
4.1
3.9
2.1
.3
.1
2.9
2.8
.8
.7
1.1
.6
1.0
.6
1.1
IV
III
IV
.2
.6
.1
2.1
2.0
(4)
.7
.6
1/T
.5
.9
.8
.3
.3
.2
2.4
.7
1
2
3
Seasonally adjusted.
Excludes Federal and household workers.
Limited to major collective bargaining units of 1,000 workers or more. The
most recent data are preliminary.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
4
8
2.5
I
III
II
IV
3.0
3.6
4.0
1.4
3.3
3.0
3.8
3.6
3.1
3.4
3.6
3.2
2.3
3.5
5.2
3.6
3.2
3.4
3.1
3.4
3.3
3.6
3.3
3.6
5.2
3.6
5.0
3.3
3.0
1.9
3.4
4.7
3.7
4.2
3.6
4.4
3.5
3.1
2.3
3.4
5.4
2.3
.5
3.5
3.1
3.5
3.2
1.7
3.5
5.2
3.2
3.0
1.7
3.3
5.0
3.4
3.3
1.7
3.8
4.1
3.5
3.3
.3
.5
1.7
.4
2.8
1.6
.2
1.2
1.8
1.7
3.4
2.4
.9
1.4
Negotiated wage and benefit adjustments from settlements:5
1.2
1987
1986
III
2.8
1.0
.5
1.1
.8
1.0
1.0
.4
1.2
.8
.3
.7
1.1
.7
.6
.1
Negotiated wage adjustments from settlements:3
.6
.6
.8
.6
.5
.2
2J3
Employment Cost Index-wages and salaries:
3.3
3.4
II
2.1
2.0
3.5
5.4
2.3
.5
1.7
.2
1.2
1.8
1.1
1.6
1.1
1.6
2.0
.4
1.5
.1
1.2
1.8
1.2
1.7
2.2
.3
1.6
1.5
2.0
1.9
2.1
2.0
2.6
2.1
2.2
2.8
2.6
2.8
2.6
3.6
4.2
3.1
.7
1.8
.5
2.2
2.1
3.1
2.6
Data round to zero.
Limited to major collective bargaining units of 5,000 workers or more. The
most recent data are preliminary.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
4.
April 1988
•
C u rren t L a b o r S ta tistics:
E m ploym en t D a ta
Employment status of the total population, by sex, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
1988
1987
Annual average
Employment status
1986
1987
Mar.
Feb.
Apr.
June
May
Sept.
Aug.
July
Dec.
Nov.
Oct.
Jan.
Feb.
TOTAL
Noninstitutional population 1, 2 .......
Labor force2 .....................................
Participation rate 3 ..................
Total employed 2 ..........................
Employment-population
ratio 4 ......................................
Resident Armed Forces 1 .......
Civilian em p lo ye d ......................
Agriculture ...............................
Nonagricultural in dustries.....
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment rate 5 ............
Not in labor force ...........................
185,052
122,128
185,225
122,349
185,370
122,472
185,571
122,924
114,786
184,904
121,706
65.8
114,615
114,951
115,259
115,494
115,878
185,705
123,084
66.3
116,145
62,995
62.1
1,736
113,050
3,143
109,907
7,256
5.9
62,696
62.0
1,743
112,872
3,184
109,688
7,091
5.8
63,198
62.1
1,741
113,210
3,249
109,961
7,177
5.9
62,924
62.2
1,755
113,504
3,172
110,332
7,090
5.8
62,876
62.3
1,750
113,744
3,215
110,529
6,978
5.7
62,898
62.4
1,749
114,129
3,293
110,836
7,046
5.7
62,647
62.5
1,736
114,409
3,228
111,182
6,938
5.6
62,621
88,442
67,623
76.5
63,543
88,534
67,671
76.4
63,711
88,598
67,937
76.7
63,916
88,683
67,776
76.4
63,949
88,756
67,947
76.6
64,048
88,849
68,019
76.6
64,174
88,924
68,030
76.5
64,245
89,033
68,243
76.6
64,396
89,099
68,343
76.7
64,636
6.2
71.9
1,566
61,977
4,259
6.3
71.8
1,559
61,984
4,080
6.0
72.0
1,561
62,150
3,960
5.9
72.1
1,575
62,341
4,021
5.9
72.1
1,581
62,368
3,827
5.6
72.2
1,580
62,468
3,899
5.7
72.2
1,593
62,581
3,845
5.7
72.2
1,589
62,656
3,785
5.6
72.3
1,588
62,808
3,847
5.6
72.5
1,577
63,059
3,707
5.4
95,729
53,392
55.8
49,928
95,808
53,494
55.8
50,151
95,898
53,831
56.1
50,517
95,979
53,703
56.0
50,475
96,071
53,939
56.1
50,648
96,140
54,105
56.3
50,870
96,221
53,930
56.0
50,666
96,295
54,181
56.3
50,903
96,376
54,330
56.4
51,085
96,446
54,442
56.4
51,249
96,538
54,681
56.6
51,482
96,606
54,740
56.7
51,509
52.2
161
49,767
3,464
6.5
52.3
160
49,991
3,343
52.7
160
50,357
3,314
52.6
159
50,316
3,228
52.7
159
50,489
3,291
52.9
161
50,709
3,235
52.7
162
50,504
3,264
52.9
161
50,742
3,278
53.0
162
50,923
3,245
53.1
161
51,088
3,193
5.9
53.3
161
51,321
3,200
5.9
53.3
159
51,350
3,231
5.9
114,060
184,421
121,326
65.8
114,018
184,605
121,610
65.9
114,359
61.7
1,735
111,806
3,250
108,556
7,557
61.9
1,726
112,334
3,269
109,065
7,573
61.8
1,718
112,300
3,192
109,108
7,308
61.9
1,720
112,639
3,212
109,427
7,251
62,981
62,626
63,095
88,186
67,590
76.6
63,263
88,271
67,604
76.6
63,390
88,361
67,802
76.7
63,543
6.1
71.8
1,584
61,697
4,374
6.5
71.7
1,575
61,688
4,327
6.4
71.8
1,575
61,815
4,214
94,944
52,568
55.4
48,861
96,013
53,818
56.1
50,494
95,639
53,315
55.7
49,803
51.5
155
48,706
3,707
7.1
52.6
160
50,334
3,324
52.1
156
49,647
3,512
182,293
119,540
65.6
111,303
184,490
121,602
65.9
114,177
183,738
120,970
65.8
113,084
183,915
120,982
65.8
113,191
184,079
121,098
65.8
113,541
184,259
121,633
61.1
1,706
109,597
3,163
106,434
8,237
6.9
62,752
61.9
1,737
112,440
3,208
109,232
7,425
62,888
61.5
1,740
111,344
3,225
108,119
7,886
6.5
62,768
61.5
1,736
111,455
3,237
108,218
7,791
6.4
62,933
87,349
66,973
76.7
62,443
88,476
67,784
76.6
63,684
88,099
67,655
76.8
63,281
71.5
1,551
60,892
4,530
72.0
1,577
62,107
4,101
6.1
6.2
66.0
6.2
6.0
6.0
184,738
122,042
66.1
66.0
66.1
66.1
66.2
M e n , 16 y e a rs a n d o v e r
Noninstitutional population ', 2 .......
Labor force2 .....................................
Participation rate 3 ..................
Total employed 2 ..........................
Employment-population
ratio 4 ......................................
Resident Armed Forces 1 .......
Civilian employed ......................
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment rate 5 ............
6.8
W o m e n , 16 y e a rs a n d o v e r
Noninstitutional population 1, 2 .......
Labor force2 .....................................
Participation rate 3 ..................
Total employed2 ...........................
Employment-population
ratio 4 ......................................
Resident Armed Forces 1 .......
Civilian em p lo ye d ......................
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment rate 5 ............
6.2
6.6
6.2
The population and Armed Forces figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.
Includes members of the Armed Forces stationed in the United States.
Labor force as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
80
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6.2
6.0
4
5
6.1
6.0
6.1
6.1
6.0
Total employed as a percent of the noninstitutional population.
Unemployment as a percent of the labor force (including the resident Armed Forces).
5. Employment status of the civilian population, by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, monthly data seasonally
adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
Annual average
1987
Employment status
1986
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
180,587
117,834
65.3
109,597
182,753
119,865
65.6
112,440
181,998
119,230
65.5
111,344
182,179
119,246
65.5
119,363
65.5
119,907
65.7
112,334
182,703
119,608
65.5
112,300
182,885
119,890
65.6
112,639
183,002
120,306
65.7
113,050
183,161
119.96C
65.E
112,872
60.7
8,237
7.0
62,752
61.5
7,425
61.2
7,886
61.5
7,573
6.3
62,626
61.6
7,251
61.8
7,256
62,768
61.3
7,557
6.3
62,981
61.5
7,308
62,888
61.2
7,791
6.5
62,933
63,095
62,995
62,696
61.6
7,091
5.9
63,198
78,523
61,320
78.1
57,569
79,565
62,095
78.0
58,726
79,216
61,930
78.2
58,324
79,303
61,933
78.1
58,380
79,387
61,970
78.1
58,516
79,474
62,129
78.2
58,673
79,536
62,054
78.0
58,632
79,625
62,106
78.0
58,783
79,668
62,083
77.9
58,825
73.3
2,292
55,277
3,751
73.8
2,329
56,397
3,369
5.4
73.6
2,317
56,007
3,606
5.8
73.6
2,361
56,019
3,553
5.7
73.7
2,378
56,138
3,454
5.6
73.8
2,383
56,290
3,456
5.6
73.7
2,316
56,316
3,422
5.5
73.8
2,333
56,450
3,323
5.4
87,567
48,589
55.5
45,556
88,583
49,783
56.2
47,074
88,237
49,343
55.9
46,485
88,321
49,414
55.9
46,582
88,395
49,494
56.0
46,761
88,464
49,728
56.2
47,028
88,546
49,722
56.2
47,088
52.0
614
44,943
3,032
53.1
622
46,453
2,709
5.4
52.7
634
45,851
2,858
5.8
52.7
602
45,980
2,832
5.7
52.9
603
46,158
2,733
5.5
53.2
629
46,399
2,700
5.4
14,496
7,926
54.7
6,472
14,606
7,988
54.7
6,640
14,546
7,957
54.7
6,535
14,555
7,899
54.3
6,493
14,562
7,899
54.2
6,529
44.6
258
6,215
1,454
18.3
45.5
258
6,382
1,347
16.9
44.9
274
6,261
1,422
17.9
44.6
274
6,219
1,406
17.8
155,432
101,801
65.5
95,660
156,958
103,290
65.8
97,789
156,431
102,825
65.7
97,001
61.5
6,140
62.3
5,501
5.3
19,989
12,654
63.3
10,814
54.1
1,840
14.5
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
183,311
120,387
■ 65.7
113,21 C
183,470
120,594
65.7
113,504
183,620
120,722
65.7
113,744
183,822
121,175
65.9
114,129
183,969
121,348
61.8
7,177
62,924
61.9
7,090
5.9
62,876
61.9
6,978
5.8
62,898
62.1
7,046
58
62,647
57
62,621
79,740
62,085
77.9
58,967
79,807
62,211
78.0
59,037
79,885
62,299
78.0
59,164
80,002
62,248
77.8
59,185
80,120
62,440
77.9
59,287
80,203
62,696
78.2
59,625
73.8
2,289
56,536
3,258
5.2
73.9
2,345
56,622
3,118
5.0
74.0
2,343
56,694
3,174
5.1
74.1
2,297
56,867
3,135
5.0
74.0
2,298
56,887
3,063
4.9
74.0
2,323
56,964
3 154
5.1
74.3
2,280
57,344
3 071
4.9
88,632
49,886
56.3
47,206
88,685
49,969
56.3
47,308
88,785
49,922
56.2
47,251
88,843
50,095
56.4
47,480
88,923
50,254
56.5
47,634
89,010
50,361
56.6
47,750
89,110
50,558
56.7
47,977
89,178
50,640
56.8
48,005
53.2
619
46,469
2,634
5.3
53.3
620
46,586
2,680
5.4
53.3
609
46,699
2,661
5.3
53.2
600
46,651
2,671
5.4
53.4
636
46,844
2,615
5.2
53.6
636
46.998
2,620
5.2
53.6
643
47,107
2,611
5.2
53.8
646
47,331
2,581
5.1
53.8
654
47,351
2,635
5.2
14,595
8,050
55.2
6,633
14,621
7,832
53.6
6,580
14,628
7,898
54.0
6,650
14,649
8,254
56.3
6,917
14,637
7,956
54.4
6,654
14,661
8,081
55.1
6,693
14,663
8,041
54.8
6,706
14,609
8,113
55.5
6,809
14,592
8,177
56.0
6,865
14,588
44.8
269
6,260
1,370
17.3
45.4
257
6,376
1,417
17.6
45.0
257
6,323
1,252
16.0
45.5
259
6,391
1,248
15.8
47.2
245
6,672
1,337
16.2
45.5
239
6,415
1,302
16.4
45.7
270
6,423
1,388
17.2
45.7
239
6,467
1,335
16.6
46.6
274
6,535
1,304
16.1
47.0
323
6,542
1,312
16.0
46.5
293
6,486
1,232
15.4
156,561
102,836
65.7
97,074
156,676
102,972
65.7
97,338
156,811
103,416
65.9
97,829
156,930
103,150
65.7
97,698
157,058
103,248
65.7
97,917
157,134
103,516
65.9
98,181
157,242
103,357
65.7
98,069
157,342
103,669
65.9
98,317
157,449
103,731
65.9
98,492
157,552
103,907
157,676
104,252
98,779
99,044
157,773
104,530
66.3
99,474
62.0
5,824
5.7
62.0
5,762
5.6
62.1
5,634
5.5
62.4
5,587
5.4
62.3
5,452
5.3
62.3
5,331
5.2
62.5
5,335
5.2
62.4
5,288
5.1
62.5
5,352
5.2
62.6
5,239
5.1
62.7
5,128
4.9
62.8
5,208
5.0
63.0
5,056
4.8
20,352
12,993
63.8
11,309
20,218
12,894
63.8
11,086
20,249
12,853
63.5
11,072
20,279
12,778
63.0
11,114
20,312
12,889
63.5
11,129
20,341
12,892
63.4
11,238
20,373
13,039
64.0
11,381
20,396
13,150
64.5
11,513
20,426
13,028
63.8
11,421
20,453
13,152
64.3
11,556
20,482
13,193
64.4
11,589
20,508
13,215
64.4
11,605
20,539
13,222
64.4
11,608
20,569
13,168
64.0
11,504
55.6
1,684
13.0
54.8
1,808
14.0
54.7
1,781
13.9
54.8
1,664
13.0
54.8
1,760
13.7
55.2
1,654
55.9
1,658
12.7
56.4
1,637
12.4
55.9
1,607
12.3
56.5
1,596
56.6
1,604
56.6
1,610
56.5
1,614
55.9
1,663
TOTAL
Civilian noninstitutional
population1......................
Civilian labor fo rc e .........................
Participation rate ..................
Employed .......................
Employment-population
ratio2 ............................
Unem ployed......................
Unemployment r a te ..............
Not in labor force ..........................
6.2
6.6
6.1
6.0
6.0
6.0
66.0
114,409
62.2
6938
M en , 2 0 y e a rs a n d o v e r
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ............................
Civilian labor fo rc e .........................
Participation rate ..................
Employed ......................................
Employment-population
ratio2 .........................
A g riculture............................
Nonagricultural industries........
Unem ployed........................
Unemployment r a te ...............
6.1
W o m e n , 20 y e a rs o n d o v e r
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ............................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
E m ployed...............................
Employment-population
ratio2 .................................
A g riculture...............................
Nonagricultural industries........
Unem ployed........................
Unemployment ra te ...............
B o th s e x e s , 16 to
6.2
19 y e a rs
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ..............................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ....................
E m ployed............................
Employment-population
ratio2 ..............................
A g riculture...........................
Nonagricultural industries........
Unemployment ra te ...............
8,011
54.9
6,779
W h ite
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ................................
Civilian labor fo rc e .......................
Participation rate ...................
E m ployed........................
Employment-population
ratio2 ...................................
Unem ployed........................
Unemployment r a te ...............
6.0
66.0
66.1
B la c k
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 ...................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ......................
Participation rate ....................
Employed ............................
Employment-population
ratio2 .......................................
Unem ployed.................................
Unemployment r a te ...............
12.8
12.1
12.2
12.2
12.2
12.6
See footnotes at end of table.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
81
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988
•
C u rren t L a b o r S ta tistics:
E m ploym en t D a ta
5. Continued— Employment status of the civilian population, by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, monthly data seasonally
adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
1988
1987
Annual average
Employment status
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
12,965
8,581
13,003
8,654
7,877
7,935
13,082
8,772
67.1
8,056
13,115
8,879
67.7
8,238
13,153
9,017
7,856
13,043
8,763
67.2
7,978
60.8
693
60.8
704
61.0
719
8.3
61.2
785
9.0
61.6
714
62.8
642
7.2
62.9
749
8.3
1986
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
12,344
8,076
65.4
7,219
12,867
8,541
66.4
7,790
12,692
8,423
66.4
7,614
12,732
8,395
65.9
7,632
12,770
8,468
66.3
7,686
12,809
8,549
66.7
7,797
12,848
8,468
65.9
7,738
12,887
8,447
65.5
7,762
12,925
8,549
58.5
857
60.5
751
60.0
809
9.6
59.9
763
9.1
60.2
782
9.2
60.9
752
60.2
730
60.2
685
Sept.
H is p a n ic o r ig in
Civilian noninstitutional
population1 .......................................
Civilian labor fo rc e ..........................
Participation rate ...................
E m ployed......................................
Employment-population
ratio2 .......................................
Unem ployed..................................
Unemployment r a te ...............
10.6
8.8
1
2
The population figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Civilian employment as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population.
NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals
6.
8.6
8.8
8.1
66.1
8.1
66.2
8.2
66.6
8.1
68.6
8,268
because data for the “ other races” groups are not presented and Hispanics'are included
in both the white and black population groups.
Selected employment indicators, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
—
1988
1987
Annual average
Selected categories
1986
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
C H A R A C T E R IS T IC
Civilian employed, 16 years and
o v e r.................................................
M e n ..............................................
Women ........................................
Married men, spouse present ..
Married women, spouse
p re s e n t.......................................
Women who maintain families .
M A JO R
109,597
60,892
48,706
39,658
112.440
62,107
50,334
40,265
111,344
61,697
49,647
39,958
111,455
61,688
49,767
40,054
111,806
61,815
49,991
40,021
112,334
61,977
50,357
40,075
112,300
61,984
50,316
40,120
112,639
62,150
50,489
40,262
113,050
62,341
50,709
40,308
112,872
62,368
50,504
40,404
113,210
62,468
50,742
40,556
113,504
62,581
50,923
40,645
113,744
62,656
51,088
40,711
114,129
62,808
51,321
40,404
114,409
63,059
51,350
40,475
27,144
5,837
28,107
6,060
27,837
5,925
27,966
5,946
28,130
5,971
28,314
5,963
28,282
6,011
28,283
6,033
28,189
6,107
28,069
6,151
28,099
6,178
28,175
6,237
28,249
6,227
28,441
6,168
28,707
6,157
1,547
1,447
169
1,632
1,423
153
1,640
1,440
132
1,689
1,416
152
1,599
1,488
170
1,672
1,429
165
1,622
1,403
162
1,625
1,424
153
1,591
1,393
155
1,624
1,415
139
1,705
1,430
140
1,595
1,407
155
1,599
1,450
156
98,299
16,342
81,957
1,235
80,722
7,881
255
100,771
16,800
83,970
1,208
82,762
99,863
16,594
83,269
1,227
82,042
8,082
270
100,106
16,518
83,588
1,234
82,354
8,139
268
100,634
16,708
83,926
1,240
82,686
8,157
276
100,510
16,920
83,590
1,163
82,427
8,293
274
100,825
16,876
83,949
101,522
17,033
84,489
83,254
8,204
297
83,267
8,274
242
101,943
17,118
84,825
1,286
83,539
101,997
17,064
84,933
82,737
8,216
266
101,241
16,794
84,447
1,175
83,272
8,214
248
101,282
16,928
84,354
260
99,772
16,553
83,219
1,213
82,006
8,166
254
5,588
2,456
2,800
13,935
5,401
2,385
2,672
14,395
5,766
2,501
2,773
14,110
5,459
2,438
2,707
14,201
5,394
2,345
2,725
13,940
5,333
2,292
2,677
14,498
5,254
2,345
2,623
14,336
5,428
2,429
2,683
14,437
5,283
2,468
2,526
14,573
5,261
2,213
2,683
14,415
5,345
2,305
2,719
13,502
5,122
5,458
2,315
2,682
13,635
5,180
2,234
2,612
13,717
5,104
2,163
2,848
13,544
5,058
2,126
2,603
13,995
4,979
2,176
2,530
14,334
5,154
2,261
2,599
13,953
5,016
2,265
2,463
14,099
4,986
2,034
2,603
13,987
IN D U S T R Y A N D C L A S S
OF W ORKER
Agriculture:
Wage and salary w o rk e rs ........
Self-employed w o rk e rs .............
Unpaid family w o rk e rs ..............
Nonagricultural industries:
Wage and salary workers ........
Government .............................
Private in dustries....................
Private households..............
Other ......................................
Self-employed w o rk e rs .............
Unpaid family w o rk e rs ..............
8,201
1,212
1,100
1,666
1,454
138
1,677
1,414
114
235
83,733
8,280
248
102,507
17,197
85,310
1,147
84,163
8,150
237
102,683
16,948
85,735
1,170
84,565
8,312
228
5,353
2,377
2,655
14,488
5,534
2,408
2,696
14,523
5,262
2,284
2,638
14,711
5,367
2,396
2,640
14,571
5,566
2,478
2,598
14,572
5,067
2,196
2,557
14,011
5,241
2,209
2,597
14,064
5,004
2,552
14,222
5,145
2,260
2,566
14,096
5,254
2,327
2,457
14,123
1,222
8,222
1,200
PERSONS AT W ORK
P A R T T IM E 1
All industries:
Part time for economic reasons .
Slack work ..................................
Could only find part-time work
Voluntary part time .......................
Nonagricultural industries:
Part time for economic reasons .
Slack work ..................................
Could only find part-time work
Voluntary part t im e .......................
1
2,201
2,587
13,928
Excludes persons “ with a job but not at work” during the survey period for such reasons as vacation, illness, or industrial disputes.
82
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2,111
1
7.
Selected unemployment indicators, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Unemployment rates)
19!38
1987
Annual average
Selected categories
1986
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
6.0
C H A R A C T E R IS T IC
Both se>es, 16 to 19 y e a rs ...................................
Men, 20 years and over ........................................
6.2
6.6
6.3
17.3
5.6
5.5
6.3
17.6
5.6
5.4
6.0
6.0
17.9
5.8
5.8
6.5
17.8
5.7
5.7
6.1
16.9
5.4
5.4
16.0
5.5
5.3
15.8
5.4
5.4
16.2
5.2
5.3
5.9
16.4
5.0
5.4
17.2
5.1
5.2
5.9
16.6
5.0
5.2
5.8
16.1
4.9
5.2
5.8
16.0
5.1
5.1
5.7
15.4
4.9
5.2
5.3
14.4
15.5
13.4
4.8
4.6
5.7
15.1
16.0
14.1
5.1
4.8
5.6
15.3
16.8
13.7
5.0
4.7
5.5
14.8
16.3
13.3
4.9
4.6
5.4
15.2
17.0
13.3
4.8
4.5
5.3
13.9
14.8
13.0
4.9
4.4
5.2
13.3
13.5
13.1
4.7
4.5
5.2
14.1
15.2
12.9
4.6
4.4
5.1
14.3
15.1
13.4
4.4
4.5
5.2
14.5
15.1
13.8
4.6
4.3
5.1
14.1
14.8
13.3
4.4
4.4
4.9
13.6
14.9
12.3
4.3
4.4
5.0
14.0
14.4
13.6
4.4
4.2
4.8
12.4
14.5
39.3
39.3
39.2
12.9
12.4
13.0
34.7
34.4
34.9
14.0
38.0
37.9
38.0
11.9
13.9
37.0
36.1
38.0
13.0
37.1
37.8
36.3
12.8
12.7
32.7
32.4
33.1
12.6
12.7
11.0
11.6
11.4
12.4
30.6
33.7
27.1
10.7
11.3
12.3
30.8
31.5
30.0
11.6
13.7
37.5
38.3
36.6
12.3
10.6
8.8
9.6
9.1
4.4
5.2
9.8
3.9
4.3
9.2
5.8
8.4
1.7
7.1
4.1
4.8
9.6
4.1
4.5
9.7
6.2
8.8
1.8
6.1
7.0
18.3
6.1
6.2
6.0
15.6
16.3
14.9
5.3
5.4
Women who maintain fa m ilie s..............................
6.6
9.1
1.9
7.9
11.1
11.6
7.5
9.1
1.7
7.4
12.2
12.7
4.1
4.5
12.1
12.2
12.2
12.2
12.6
33.9
32.2
35.8
33.4
33.5
33.4
35.0
35.1
34.9
10.1
33.8
32.5
35.2
9.8
11.0
10.2
10.8
10.1
11.7
10.9
10.1
11.1
38.3
42.0
34.7
11.3
10.4
11.6
33.4
31.4
35.4
11.4
11.3
9.2
8.8
8.6
8.1
8.1
8.2
8.3
9.0
8.1
7.2
8.3
4.1
4.4
9.4
5.9
4.0
4.2
9.5
5.9
8.7
1.7
7.2
4.0
4.0
9.5
5.9
7.3
1.7
7.1
3.8
4.2
9.3
5.7
3.7
4.3
9.0
5.6
3.7
4.2
3.5
4.2
8.5
b.b
3.4
4.3
8.4
b.4
8.1
1.6
8.2
1.6
3.7
4.2
8.9
5.6
8.3
1.5
1.5
1.5
3.6
4.2
8.9
b.4
8.3
1.4
3.4
4.1
8.3
5.3
7.9
1.4
6.9
6.9
6.8
6.8
6.6
6.6
6.6
6.3
13.0
6.1
6.1
7.9
6.0
8.6
8.6
1.7
7.3
11.2
8.8
5.5
8.4
1.6
6.8
8.2
8.0
IN D U S T R Y
Nonagrlcultural private wage and salary workers ....
Manufacturing .........................................................
7.0
13.5
13.1
7.1
6.9
7.4
5.1
7.6
5.5
3.6
12.5
6.2
10.0
11.6
6.0
5.8
6.3
4.5
6.9
4.9
3.5
10.5
6.6
6.3
6.5
9.5
12.4
6.7
11.2
12.0
12.1
6.3
6.3
6.7
6.9
4.1
7.2
5.2
3.6
6.6
6.2
6.2
9.5
11.7
5.7
5.4
7.0
4.5
7.3
4.9
3.5
11.0
10.8
6.4
4.7
7.1
4.8
3.5
9.5
6.5
4.4
7.0
4.9
3.4
9.4
4.8
7.1
4.9
3.4
9.3
13.0
11.7
6.8
6.1
10.8
6.0
6.0
5.9
4.4
6.8
5.1
3.4
10.9
11.3
5.6
5.5
5.8
4.4
7.0
4.7
3.7
5.9
7.4
11.9
5.6
5.4
5.9
4.1
6.4
4.8
3.4
10.6
8.6
5.9
8.3
5.8
7.0
5.7
7.8
11.2
8.0
10.6
5.8
7.7
10.6
12.2
11.0
5.7
5.2
6.5
4.4
6.5
4.7
3.3
5.3
4.8
5.9
4.5
5.1
4.8
5.6
4.6
5.6
5.5
5.8
3.6
5.6
5.9
5.3
3.6
6.4
4.5
10.6
11.1
5.7
6.8
6.2
6.1
4.8
3.4
4.8
3.2
10.9
4.9
3.0
11.5
2.8
10.2
1 Aggregate hours lost by the unemployed and persons on part time for economic reasons as a percent of potentially available labor force hours.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
83
i
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
8.
April 1988
•
C u rren t L a b o r S ta tistics:
E m ploym en t D a ta
Unemployment rates by sex and age, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Civilian workers)
Annual
average
Sex and age
1987
1986
Total, 16 years and over ........................................................................
16 to 24 y e a rs .......................................................................................
16 to 19 y e a rs ....................................................................................
16 to 17 years .................................................................................
18 to 19 years .................................................................................
20 to 24 y e a r s ....................................................................................
25 years and o v e r.................................................................................
25 to 54 years .................................................................................
55 years and o v e r ...........................................................................
7.0
13.3
18.3
Men, 16 years and o v e r ....................................................................
16 to 24 years .................................................................................
16 to 19 y e a rs ...............................................................................
16 to 17 y e a rs ............................................................................
18 to 19 y e a rs ............................................................................
20 to 24 y e a rs...............................................................................
25 years and o v e r ...........................................................................
25 to 54 y e a rs ............................................................................
55 years and o v e r......................................................................
16.9
19.1
15.2
9.7
4.8
5.0
3.3
6.9
13.7
19.0
17.8
20.8
20.2
17.7
16.0
9.9
4.8
5.0
3.5
6.2
12.6
5.4
5.6
4.1
Women, 16 years and o v e r .............................................................
16 to 24 y e a rs ................................................................................
16 to 19 years .............................................................................
16 to 17 years ..........................................................................
18 to 19 years ..........................................................................
20 to 24 years .............................................................................
25 years and o v e r..........................................................................
25 to 54 years ..........................................................................
55 years and o v e r ....................................................................
9.
17.0
10.7
5.4
5.7
3.9
11.0
Mar.
Feb.
6.2
12.2
20.2
Apr.
6.5
6.3
13.0
17.9
19.8
16.4
10.4
5.1
5.5
3.1
12.8
12.6
17.8
19.9
16.2
17.3
18.9
15.9
10.2
10.1
5.0
5.3
3.4
4.8
5.1
3.4
6.4
13.1
18.7
6.6
6.6
13.5
18.5
20.5
17.1
10.9
5.1
5.4
3.4
13.2
19.0
20.3
17.9
6.5
12.4
16.6
19.6
14.3
15.9
16.6
14.7
10.1
10.0
5.0
5.3
3.0
4.8
5.1
2.9
7.1
6.2
6.6
11.7
15.9
18.0
14.3
9.4
4.8
5.1
3.0
12.4
17.1
19.0
15.7
9.9
5.1
5.5
2.7
21.0
17.1
10.3
4.9
5.1
3.7
10.2
5.1
5.3
3.6
June
May
6.6
12.8
17.6
19.6
16.3
10.3
5.5
5.9
3.6
1988
1987
6.3
12.0
6.3
12.5
17.6
21.0
15.2
9.8
4.8
5.1
3.6
6.4
13.2
19.6
22.7
17.2
9.9
4.9
5.1
3.9
6.2
11.8
15.6
19.1
13.1
9.7
4.7
5.0
3.0
July
Oct.
Sept.
Aug.
5.9
6.1
12.1
6.0
11.8
6.0
11.8
11.8
16.0
18.8
14.5
15.8
17.5
13.9
9.7
4.7
5.0
3.1
16.2
18.3
14.7
9.4
4.7
4.9
3.2
16.4
18.3
15.2
9.4
4.6
4.8
3.3
10.0
4.7
4.9
3.2
Nov.
6.0
11.8
17.2
20.4
14.7
8.8
4.6
4.8
3.1
Dec.
5.8
5.7
11.6
11.2
11.6
11.1
16.6
19.2
14.8
8.9
4.5
4.7
3.4
16.1
17.8
14.7
8.5
4.5
4.8
3.2
16.0
18.7
14.5
9.1
4.5
4.7
3.5
15.4
17.4
13.9
8.7
4.5
4.7
3.3
5.8
5.7
11.7
17.2
19.3
15.3
8.7
4.4
4.6
3.2
5.8
16.4
19.4
14.9
9.9
4.4
4.5
4.0
5.6
11.3
15.6
16.9
14.7
9.0
4.3
4.5
3.4
6.2
6.0
6.1
5.8
11.9
15.9
17.1
13.7
9.9
4.7
4.9
3.4
12.5
17.8
20.5
15.9
12.1
12.1
12.0
17.3
19.7
15.9
9.3
4.5
4.7
3.2
17.4
20.9
14.8
9.2
4.5
4.8
3.1
17.2
20.4
14.8
9.2
4.4
4.6
3.5
6.0
11.0
6.1
6.1
11.5
15.4
16.9
14.4
9.4
4.7
4.9
3.5
11.5
16.9
19.9
14.6
8.5
4.7
4.9
3.1
6.0
11.2
6.0
6.1
11.7
15.5
18.4
13.6
9.6
4.5
4.9
11.7
15.7
18.0
14.1
9.5
4.7
5.0
2.8
2.6
^,6
14.4
16.0
13.4
9.0
4.7
5.0
2.9
Feb.
5.8
12.4
16.4
19.1
15.4
10.4
4.8
5.0
3.4
4.7
4.9
3.4
Jan.
5.9
5.9
16.0
17.9
14.7
8.6
4.7
4.9
3.2
5.9
10.7
14.8
16.2
14.1
8.4
4.7
4.9
3.3
12.2
5.9
10.9
15.6
17.9
14.1
5.9
10.8
15.1
18.0
13.1
8.4
4.7
4.9
3.1
8.2
4.6
4.9
2.8
Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
1988
1987
Annual average
Reason for unemployment
1986
Job losers ......................................................................
On la y o ff......................................................................
Other job lo s e rs ..........................................................
Job leavers ....................................................................
Reentrants .....................................................................
New entrants .................................................................
1987
Feb.
Mar.
4,033
1,090
2,943
1,015
2,160
1,029
3,566
943
2,623
965
1,974
920
3,835
2,834
1,033
2,038
1,007
48.9
13.2
35.7
12.3
26.2
12.5
48.0
12.7
35.3
13.0
26.6
12.4
48.5
12.7
35.8
13.1
25.8
12.7
3.4
.9
3.0
1,001
Apr.
May
June
3,791
1,003
2,788
996
2,078
952
3,705
963
2,742
955
1,965
918
3,612
924
48.5
49.1
2,688
931
1,995
999
July
Sept.
Aug.
Nov.
Oct.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
3,389
874
2,515
992
1,969
855
3,313
820
2,493
981
1,908
882
3,388
944
2,444
960
1,845
914
3,307
878
2,429
926
1,974
855
3,200
856
2,344
946
1,945
909
3,209
2,320
1,082
1,917
885
3,207
884
2,323
961
1,951
864
47.0
46.8
47.7
13.3
34.4
13.5
26.0
12.9
46.8
12.4
34.4
13.1
28.0
45.7
12.1
33.5
13.5
27.8
13.0
45.2
12.5
32.7
15.3
27.0
12.5
45.9
12.7
33.3
13.8
27.9
12.4
2.7
2.7
2.6
.8
1.6
.8
.9
1.6
2.6
.8
1.6
.7
.7
3,554
919
2,635
959
1,980
854
3,529
916
2,613
989
1,930
844
48.4
12.5
35.9
13.1
26.9
12.6
12.1
11.6
35.8
13.6
26.5
11.6
11.6
34.9
13.8
27.3
11.9
35.2
13.8
26.9
12.5
888
PERCENT OF UNEM PLOYED
Job lo se rs....................................................................
On la y o ff...................................................................
Other job lo s e rs .......................................................
Job le avers..................................................................
R eentrants...................................................................
New entrants ..............................................................
48.4
12.8
12.8
35.7
12.7
26.6
36.4
12.7
26.1
12.2
12.2
47.9
12.3
35.7
12.4
26.5
13.3
3.2
.9
1.7
3.2
3.1
3.0
3.0
2.9
.8
.8
.8
2.8
.8
1.6
1.5
.8
1.6
.8
1.7
.7
2.8
.8
1.6
2.8
.8
1.7
.8
1.6
.8
.6
1.6
.8
.7
.7
.7
.8
.7
12.2
PERCENT OF
C IV IL IA N
LABOR FORCE
Job lo s e rs ......................................................................
Job leavers ....................................................................
Reentrants .....................................................................
New entrants .................................................................
10.
1.8
.9
.8
1.6
.8
1.7
.8
Duration of unemployment, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
1988
1987
Annual average
Weeks of unemployment
1986
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
3,308
2,165
2,067
974
1,093
3,138
2,151
2,029
973
1,056
3,186
2,144
1,920
945
975
3,203
2,142
1,896
834
1,062
3,220
1,949
1,904
317
987
3,223
2,093
1,801
844
957
3,218
2,029
1,834
899
935
3,229
1,968
1,791
892
899
3,089
2,263
1,733
839
894
3,084
2,145
1,740
841
899
14.8
14.7
14.2
14.2
6.6
14.2
5.8
14.0
6.6
14.3
6.4
14.1
6.6
6.2
6.1
6.0
14.4
6.4
14.4
6.4
Less than 5 weeks ...............................................
5 to 14 weeks ........................................................
15 weeks and o v e r ...............................................
15 to 26 weeks ..................................................
27 weeks and o v e r ....................................... .
3,448
2,557
2,232
1,045
1,187
3,246
2,196
1,983
943
1,040
3,343
2,444
2,129
1,004
1,125
3,352
2,411
2,055
944
1,111
3,195
2,256
2,060
984
1,076
Mean duration in w e e k s .......................................
Median duration in w e e k s ....................................
15.0
6.9
14.5
6.5
14.8
6.7
14.9
6.7
14.8
6.9
Digitized for 84
FRASER
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
11.
Unemployment rates of civilian workers by State, data not seasonally adjusted
S tate
Jan.
1987
Jan.
1988
A la b a m a ...................................................................
A la ska .......................................................................
A rizo na ......................................................................
A rk a n s a s ..................................................................
C a lifo rn ia ..................................................................
10.1
11.7
7.9
9.6
6.9
7.9
10.8
5.6
9.2
5.6
S tate
Jan.
1987
Jan.
1988
10.1
5.7
6 6
2.9
9.5
5.2
7.2
3.3
4.6
9 9
6.2
5.2
6 9
4.5
8 8
5.0
5.1
70
8.7
8 5
84
6 5
4.5
7.1
7 3
7 1
6 2
4.0
6.1
5 5
8 2
9.8
74
6.1
4 7
6 9
8.4
6.7
5.2
5 4
9.3
13.0
80
4.1
4 2
8.2
13.8
7 0
10.6
8.9
N e braska ................................................................
N ew H a m p s h ire ....................................................
N ew Je rsey ...........................................................
9.3
C o lo ra do ..................................................................
C o n n e cticu t .............................................................
D e la w a re ..................................................................
D istrict o f C o lu m b ia ..............................................
Florida .......................................................................
4.0
3.7
8.0
5.8
7.8
3.7
4.4
6.1
5.0
G eo rg ia .....................................................................
H a w a ii........................................................................
Idaho .........................................................................
Illinois ........................................................................
Indiana ......................................................................
5.9
4.4
10.9
8.2
7.5
6.4
3.9
9.5
7.4
6.5
I o w a ...........................................................................
K ansas ......................................................................
K e n tu c k y ..................................................................
L o u is ia n a ..................................................................
M a in e .........................................................................
7.1
6.4
10.8
14.9
6.8
7.0
5.6
M aryland ..................................................................
M a s s a c h u s e tts .......................................................
M ic h ig a n ....................................................................
M inn eso ta ................................................................
M is s is s ip p i................................................................
M is s o u ri.....................................................................
4.1
8.1
6.4
12.7
6.9
N ew Y o r k ................................................................
N orth C arolina ......................................................
O hio .........................................................................
S outh C a ro lin a ......................................................
9.5
12.0
Te xas .......................................................................
U tah ..........................
5.5
V e r m o n t..................................................................
5.4
5.2
3.8
10.7
6.1
10.6
6.7
W a sh ing ton .................. .........................................
W est V irg in ia .........................................................
NOTE: Some data in this table may differ from data published elsewhere because of
the continual updating of the database.
12.
Employment of workers on nonagricultural payrolls by State, data not seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
State
Jan. 1987
Dec. 1987
A labam a......................
A la ska .......................
A r iz o n a ......................
A rk a n s a s ..................
C a lifo rn ia ....................
1,464.6
196.6
1,353.4
803.4
11,355.0
1,527.9
203.1
1,423.1
851.2
11,973.2
C o lo r a d o ...................
C o n n e cticu t ..............
D e la w a re ....................
D istrict o f C olum bia
F lo r id a ........................
1,393.6
1,603.5
305.9
633.5
4,728.2
1,415.6
1,674.5
330.9
664.2
5,037.3
G e o r g ia ......................
H a w a ii.........................
I d a h o ..........................
I llin o is .........................
Indiana .......................
2,696.3
447.7
318.2
4,803.2
2 ,211.6
2,807.8
470.6
340.0
4,963.8
2,360.1
I o w a .............................
K ansas .......................
K e n tu c k y ....................
L o u is ia n a ....................
M a in e ...........................
1,056.9
968.9
1,278.6
1,460.6
474.3
1,133.4
1,020.7
1,352.0
1,504.3
517.9
M a ry la n d ....................
M a s s a c h u s e tts ........
M ic h ig a n .....................
M in n e s o ta .................
M is s is s ip p i.................
M is s o u ri......................
M o n ta n a .....................
1,951.9
2,959.1
3,654.0
1,884.5
842.3
2,125.9
265.9
2,050.8
3,101.9
3,776.3
1,997.9
884.7
2,215.1
275.3
Jan. 1988p
p = preliminary
NOTE: Some data in this table may differ from data published elsewhere
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
State
1,505.5 N e bra ska.........................................................
196.0 Nevada .............................................................
1,404.1 New H am pshire..............................................
833.3
11,806.5 New J e rs e y ......................................................
New Mexico ....................................................
1,395.5 New Y o rk ..........................................................
1,640.3 North Carolina .........................................
319.9 North Dakota ..................................................
654.1
5,022.8 Ohio ..................................................................
O klaho m a.........................................................
2,766.3 O re g o n ..............................................................
463.6I Pennsylvania...................................................
331.3 Rhode Isla n d ...................................................
4,900.5
2,315.8 South C a ro lin a ................................................
South D a k o ta ..................................................
1,109.6 Tennessee ......................................................
996.1 Texas ................................................................
1,333.1 Utah ..................................................................
1,485.2
503.6 V e rm o n t............................................................
V irg in ia ..............................................................
2,017.2 Washington ......................................................
3,031.4 West V irg inia....................................................
3,682.7 W iscon sin..........................................
1,952.0
875.5 W yom ing...........................................................
2,165.5 Puerto R ic o ......................................................
269.5 Virgin Islands ..................................................
Jan. 1987
Dec. 1987
Jan. 1988p
642.4
472.4
494.8
670.2
514.4
529.0
657.1
507.3
521.0
3,485.2
516.5
7,839.3
2,779.4
243.6
3,653.2
536.4
8,219.5
2,930.5
254.4
3,572.2
526.2
8,025.8
2,884.1
248.7
4,447.6
1,097.7
1,050.2
4,760.4
440.3
4,676.9
1,108.3
1,116.5
5,016.5
458.3
4,567.6
1,078.7
1,094.5
4,901.5
446.7
1,345.1
246.3
1,937.5
6,440.6
625.3
1,422.1
256.3
2,056.7
6,580.8
652.9
1,396.4
249.6
2,025.4
6,517.7
636.0
237.9
2,588.4
1,766.8
584.7
2,003.8
252.3
2,744.7
1,880.4
607.3
2,121.4
250.1
2,701.1
1,845.3
591.8
2,073.8
176.3
736.2
38.8
177.2
777.5
40.2
173.0
763.8
39.6
because of the continual updating of the database.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
13.
April 1988
•
C u rren t L a b o r S ta tistics:
E m ploym en t D a ta
Employment of workers on nonagricultural payrolls by industry, monthly data seasonally adjusted
(In thousands)
1988
1987
Annual average
Industry
1986
TOTAL
..........................................................
P R IV A T E S E C T O R
G O O D S -P R O D U C IN G
M in in g
................................
..............................
.................................................................
Oil and gas extraction .................
C o n s tr u c tio n
................................................
General building contractors.......
M a n u f a c t u r i n g .............................................
Production workers .......................
D u r a b l e g o o d s ..........................................
Production workers .......................
Lumber and wood p ro d u c ts .........
Furniture and fix tu re s .....................
Stone, clay, and glass products ...
Primary metal industries ...............
Blast furnaces and basic steel
p roducts..........................................
Fabricated metal products............
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.p
Feb.p
99,610
82,900
102,112
85,049
101,150
84,215
101,329
84,352
101,598
84,560
101,708
84,677
101,818
84,787
102,126
85,106
102,275
85,229
102,434
85,386
102,983
85,795
103,285
86,072
103,612
86,341
103,786
86,533
104,317
86,996
24,681
783
457
24,884
741
425
24,743
719
406
24,749
722
408
24,759
729
416
24,752
735
420
24,761
738
425
24,850
744
430
24,886
751
434
24,917
759
439
25,064
764
443
25,169
759
439
25,259
756
436
25,204
745
428
25,332
746
429
4,904
1,293
5,031
1,278
5,038
1,309
5,032
1,291
5,019
1,272
4,999
1,267
5,008
1,266
5,002
1,261
5,006
1,262
4,989
1,260
5,053
1,279
5,074
1,280
5,121
1,290
5,059
1,303
5,166
1,320
18,994
12,895
19,112
13,021
18,986
12,916
18,995
12,925
19,011
12,939
19,018
12,946
19,015
12,958
19,104
13,020
19,129
13,038
19,169
13,072
19,247
13,129
19,336
13,197
19,382
13,241
19,400
13,252
19,420
13,276
11,244
7,432
11,237
7,457
11,179
7,398
11,176
7,399
11,175
7,406
11,175
7,409
11,176
7,421
11,195
7,425
11,248
7,475
11,268
7,494
11,319
7,530
11,367
7,568
11,403
7,597
11,405
7,590
11,413
7,606
711
497
586
753
739
514
585
751
733
501
588
733
734
502
586
739
736
504
586
743
738
509
584
742
735
510
582
746
740
518
582
750
736
518
582
754
740
520
581
764
741
524
583
768
750
526
588
771
753
530
590
771
753
533
585
768
754
532
588
771
275
1,431
275
1,428
261
1,419
266
1,419
272
1,423
272
1,420
275
1,424
277
1,424
278
1,425
283
1,429
286
1,438
287
1,446
285
1,451
284
1,453
287
1,454
Machinery, except electrica l.........
Electrical and electronic
equipm ent.......................................
Transportation equipm ent.............
Motor vehicles and equipment ....
Instruments and related products
Miscellaneous manufacturing
in d u strie s........................................
2,060
2,039
2,018
2,015
2,022
2,025
2,028
2,033
2,044
2,053
2,064
2,074
2,085
2,096
2,097
2,123
2,015
865
707
2,101
2,106
2,099
2,092
2,087
2,080
2,022
2,022
2,011
2,011
2,010
859
695
854
694
847
694
843
693
842
693
2,095
2,028
848
695
2,096
2,018
837
695
2,111
2,015
842
696
2,088
1,995
814
695
2,118
2,016
835
701
2,128
2,018
832
701
2,130
2,006
822
703
2,128
2,005
822
703
362
369
364
366
364
366
368
370
371
372
374
377
376
378
381
N o n d u r a b l e g o o d s ..................................
7,750
5,463
7,875
5,564
7,807
5,518
7,819
5,526
7,836
5,533
7,843
5,537
7,839
5,537
7,909
5,595
7,881
5,563
7,901
5,578
7,928
5,599
7,969
5,629
7,979
5,644
7,995
5,662
8,007
5,670
Food and kindred pro d u c ts ..........
Tobacco manufactures .................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts .......................
Apparel and other textile
products..........................................
Paper and allied products ............
1,617
59
705
1,636
57
730
1,630
58
722
1,635
57
725
1,642
56
724
1,633
57
727
1,634
57
729
1,644
57
736
1,632
56
732
1,631
55
735
1,635
55
736
1,645
56
738
1,645
56
739
1,662
56
737
1,663
55
738
1,106
674
1,113
678
1,101
1,103
678
1,104
677
1,107
677
1,108
676
1,130
678
1,110
677
1,117
681
1,123
678
1,128
680
1,121
679
681
1,115
681
1,114
682
Printing and publishing..................
Chemicals and allied products.....
Petroleum and coal p roducts.......
Rubber and misc. plastics
p roducts..........................................
Leather and leather products ......
1,457
1,023
169
1,501
1,027
165
1,483
1,018
164
1,485
1,017
164
1,493
1,018
164
1,497
1,022
164
1,498
1,014
164
1,504
1,026
164
1,508
1,031
164
1,509
1,031
166
1,514
1,035
167
1,522
1,041
167
1,525
1,047
167
1,531
1,048
167
1,537
1,051
168
790
151
818
151
805
147
807
148
809
149
809
150
810
149
815
155
819
152
824
152
833
152
840
152
845
153
845
153
846
153
74,930
77,228
76,407
76,580
76,839
76,956
77,057
77,276
77,389
77,517
77,919
78,116
78,353
78,582
78,985
5,459
3,218
5,473
3,233
5,486
3,245
5,497
3,257
Production w o rke rs.........................
S E R V IC E -P R O D U C IN G
.........................
2,019
838
697
T r a n s p o r t a t io n a n d p u b lic
u t i l i t i e s ..............................................................
Transportation.................................
Communication and public
u tilitie s.............................................
W h o le s a le tr a d e
.......................................
Durable g o o d s .................................
Nondurable g o o d s ..........................
R e t a i l t r a d e ....................................................
General merchandise s to re s ........
Food s to re s .....................................
Automotive dealers and service
s ta tio n s ...........................................
Eating and drinking p la c e s ...........
5,244
3,041
5,378
3,150
5,315
3,097
5,333
3,112
5,348
3,124
5,344
3,120
5,350
3,128
5,363
3,133
5,377
3,147
5,416
3,183
5,436
3,198
2,203
2,228
2,218
2,221
2,224
2,224
2,222
2,230
2,230
2,233
2,238
2,241
2,240
2,241
2,240
5,735
3,383
2,351
5,797
3,419
2,379
5,757
3,391
2,366
5,766
3,397
2,369
5,772
3,397
2,375
5,775
3,401
2,374
5,781
3,405
2,376
5,797
3,418
2,379
5,807
3,422
2,385
5,815
3,431
2,384
5,831
3,444
2,387
5,851
3,456
2,395
5,871
3,473
2,398
5,887
3,482
2,405
5,903
3,494
2,409
17,845
2,363
2,873
18,264
2,406
2,959
18,140
2,373
2,940
18,136
2,380
2,944
18,197
2,385
2,953
18,205
2,390
2,956
18,226
2,387
2,960
18,274
2,407
2,959
18,256
2,411
2,962
18,314
2,415
2,958
18,408
2,459
2,969
18,443
2,454
2,982
18,458
2,453
2,996
18,628
2,501
3,021
18,739
2,545
3,037
1,943
5,879
1,987
5,994
1,979
5,956
1,979
5,964
1,978
5,962
1,978
5,976
1,983
5,982
1,985
5,985
1,985
5,992
1,988
6,018
2,000
2,003
6,047
2,013
6,064
2,021
6,032
6,083
2,037
6,098
6,297
3,152
1,945
6,501
3,243
2,016
1,242
6,526
3,256
1,248
6,558
3,272
2,032
1,254
6,576
3,276
2,037
1,263
6,586
3,280
2,037
1,269
6,608
3,291
2,043
1,274
6,624
3,293
2,050
1,281
6,629
3,292
2,054
1,283
6,650
3,296
2,068
1,286
6,657
3,301
2,069
1,287
6,668
1,200
6,589
3,278
2,044
1,267
3,301
2,082
1,285
6,681
3,307
2,084
1,290
6,677
3,296
2,092
1,289
23,099
4,781
6,551
24,137
5,097
6,879
23,759
4,984
6,748
23,842
5,020
6,773
23,926
5,044
6,800
24,025
5,083
6,822
24,083
5,086
6,853
24,214
5,105
6,887
24,279
5,133
6,923
24,295
5,152
6,943
24,406
5,194
6,987
24,493
5,195
7,023
24,612
5,217
7,063
24,647
5,216
7,087
24,848
5,269
7,147
16,711
2,899
3,888
9,923
17,063
2,943
3,952
10,167
16,935
2,916
3,927
10,092
16,977
2,922
3,930
10,125
17,038
2,933
3,943
10,162
17,031
2,935
3,947
10,149
17,031
2,935
3,932
10,164
17,020
2,936
3,952
10,132
17,046
2,940
3,964
10,142
17,048
2,962
3,957
10,129
17,188
2,965
3,973
10,250
17,213
2,977
3,978
10,258
17,271
2,981
3,996
10,294
17,253
2,982
3,994
10,277
17,321
2,989
4,007
10,325
F in a n c e , in s u r a n c e , a n d r e a l
e s t a t e ................................................................
Finance ............................................
Insurance.........................................
Real e s ta te ......................................
S e r v i c e s ............................................................
Business se rvice s...........................
Health s e rv ic e s ...............................
G o v e rn m e n t
.................................................
F e d e ra l.............................................
State ................................................
L o c a l.................................................
2,022
p = preliminary
NOTE: See notes on the data for a description of the most recent benchmark revision.
86
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
14. Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagriculturai payrolls by industry,
monthly data seasonally adjusted
Industry
Annual
average
1986
1987
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
1988
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.p
Feb.p
...............................................................
34.8
34.8
34.9
34.8
24.7
34.9
34.8
34.8
34.9
34.6
34.9
34.9
34.6
34.7
34.9
M A N U F A C T U R I N G ........................................................................
40.7
3.4
41.0
3.7
41.1
3.6
40.9
3.6
40.6
3.5
41.0
3.8
41.0
3.7
41.0
3.8
41.0
3.8
40.6
3.6
41.3
4.0
41.2
3.9
41.0
3.8
41.1
3.9
40.9
3.8
Overtime h o u rs ...................................................
Lumber and wood p ro d u c ts ...................................
Furniture and fix tu re s ..............................................
Stone, clay, and glass p ro d u c ts............................
Primary metal in d u strie s.........................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel p ro d u c ts ..........
Fabricated metal products .....................................
41.3
3.5
40.3
39.8
42.2
41.9
41.7
41.3
41.5
3.8
40.6
39.9
42.3
43.1
43.6
41.5
41.7
3.7
41.3
40.2
42.8
42.6
42.3
41.6
41.5
3.7
40.9
40.0
42.5
42.6
42.3
41.5
41.2
3.6
40.6
39.1
41.9
42.3
42.4
41.2
41.6
3.9
41.0
39.9
42.3
43.1
43.3
41.6
41.5
3.8
40.6
40.0
42.0
43.1
43.5
41.5
41.6
3.8
40.6
40.0
42.2
43.4
44.1
41.4
41.6
4.0
40.4
40.1
42.1
43.5
44.0
41.5
41.0
3.7
39.4
39.3
41.9
43.4
45.2
40.8
41.9
4.1
40.4
40.0
42.6
43.7
44.3
42.0
41.9
4.0
40.8
40.0
42.5
43.7
44.0
42.1
41.5
3.9
40.4
39.8
42.5
43.6
44.3
41.7
41.7
4.0
40.2
39.6
42.0
43.5
44.0
41.9
41.5
3.9
40.7
39.6
41.9
43.2
43.9
41.5
Machinery except electrical ...................................
Electrical and electronic equipm ent......................
Transportation equipm ent.......................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent............................
Instruments and related p ro d u c ts .........................
41.6
41.0
42.3
42.6
41.0
42.2
40.9
42.1
42.3
41.4
42.2
41.1
42.5
43.0
41.3
42.0
40.9
42.3
42.9
41.3
41.8
40.6
41.9
42.1
41.0
42.2
40.8
42.2
42.5
41.5
42.2
41.1
41.9
42.0
41.5
42.4
41.1
41.7
41.9
41.6
42.2
41.0
41.9
41.9
41.7
41.6
40.4
41.3
41.3
41.1
42.6
41.1
42.5
43.0
42.1
42.7
41.0
42.4
43.1
41.7
42.5
40.9
41.4
41.4
41.3
42.8
41.2
42.0
42.1
41.7
42.6
40.7
42.0
42.5
41.5
N o n d u r a b l e g o o d s .....................................................................
Overtime h o u rs ...................................................
Food and kindred pro d u cts....................................
Textile mill p ro d u c ts ................................................
Apparel and other textile products........................
Paper and allied p ro d u c ts ......................................
39.9
3.3
40.0
41.1
36.7
43.2
40.2
3.6
40.2
41.9
37 1
43.4
40.3
3.5
40.1
42.0
37.4
43.3
40.1
3.5
40.0
42.1
37.0
43.0
39.7
3.3
39.8
41.4
36.1
43.0
40.2
3.7
40.1
42.0
37.2
43.5
40.2
3.6
40.1
42.1
37.1
43.3
40.3
3.7
39.9
42.4
37.3
43.5
40.3
3.7
40.3
42.1
37.4
43.4
40.1
3.6
40.2
41.3
36.3
43.8
40.5
3.8
40.5
41.9
37.4
43.7
40.4
3.8
40.6
41.8
37.1
43.5
40.3
3.7
40.6
41.7
37.2
43.2
40.4
3.8
40.7
41.6
36.9
43.6
40.2
3.6
40.3
41.4
37.0
43.1
Printing and publishing............................................
Chemicals and allied products...............................
Petroleum and coal p roducts.................................
38.0
41.9
43.8
38.0
42.3
43.9
38.1
42.2
44.0
37.9
42.0
44.1
37.7
42.2
43.9
37.9
42.1
44.3
38.1
42.0
43.3
38.1
42.2
44.4
37.9
42.4
43.3
38.2
42.8
43.2
38.0
42.7
43.5
38.0
42.7
43.6
37.9
42.7
44.3
38.0
42.6
44.4
37.9
42.6
44.2
T R A N S P O R T A T I O N A N D P U B L I C U T I L I T I E S ......
39.2
39.1
39.2
39.0
39.0
39.2
38.8
39.2
39.3
39.1
39.3
39.1
39.0
39.4
39.1
W H O L E S A L E T R A D E .................................................................
37.7
37.5
38.3
38.1
38.2
38.3
38.2
38.1
38.3
38.0
38.4
38.3
38.1
38.2
38.2
R E T A IL T R A D E
29.2
29.3
29.3
29.3
29.5
29.4
29.2
29.3
29.6
29.6
29.3
29.2
28.8
28.9
29.2
32.5
32.5
32.6
32.5
32.4
32.5
32.5
32.5
32.5
32.5
32.5
32.6
32.4
32.7
32.9
P R IV A T E S E C T O R
Overtime h o u rs ...................................................
D u r a b l e g o o d s ...............................................................................
S E R V IC E S
...............................................................................
..........................................................................................
p = preliminary
NOTE: See “ Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
benchmark adjustment.
87
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988
•
Current L abor Statistics:
Em ploym ent D ata
15. Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls by
industry
Industry
Annual
average
1986
1987
$8.98
Seasonally adjusted .............................................
$8.76
-
M I N I N G ....................................................................................................
12.44
C O N S T R U C T I O N ............................................................................
12.47
P R I V A T E S E C T O R ........................................................................
1988
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.p
FebT
$8.92
8.88
$8.92
8.91
$8.91
8.91
$8.93
8.95
$8.92
8.94
$8.91
8.96
$8.94
9.02
$9.06
9.02
$9.09
9.08
$9.14
9.12
$9.13
9.11
$9.18
9.14
$9.17
9.12
12.45
12.56
12.51
12.43
12.42
12.44
12.31
12.32
12.43
12.34
12.47
12.50
12.67
12.60
12.66
12.51
12.59
12.55
12.60
12.61
12.57
12.67
12.77
12.79
12.80
12.78
12.92
12.74
-
9.73
9.91
9.84
9.85
9.87
9.87
9.87
9.87
9.86
10.00
9.95
10.01
10.08
10.07
10.07
10.29
8.33
7.46
10.05
10.39
8.31
7.58
10.15
11.78
13.59
9.99
10.39
8.28
7.58
10.13
11.82
13.66
9.99
10.39
8.34
7.58
10.23
11.96
13.84
9.98
10.40
8.37
7.64
10.26
11.96
13.80
9.97
10.42
8.44
7.66
10.29
11.97
13.83
10.42
8.49
7.74
10.31
11.98
13.81
9.97
10.53
8.48
7.75
10.40
12.24
14.17
10.04
10.51
8.44
7.73
10.31
12.05
13.97
10.00
10.40
8.46
7.67
10.33
11.97
13.70
9.95
10.57
8.49
7.73
10.34
12.08
13.97
10.15
10.63
8.45
7.79
10.33
12.15
14.03
10.24
10.62
8.52
7.81
10.37
13.73
9.89
10.45
8.40
7.67
10.27
11.98
13.84
10.03
10.61
8.53
7.73
10.38
12.13
14.07
10.18
Machinery, except electrical .................................. 10.59
Electrical and electronic equipm ent......................
9.65
Transportation equipm ent....................................... 12.81
Motor vehicles and equipm ent............................ 13.45
Instruments and related products .........................
9.47
Miscellaneous m anufacturing.................................
7.54
10.77
9.90
12.96
13.57
9.74
7.74
10.68
12.86
13.49
9.67
7.66
10.74
9.89
12.83
13.36
9.74
7.72
10.76
9.90
12.90
13.43
9.78
7.70
10.81
9.98
13.07
13.69
9.80
7.76
10.89
13.49
9.67
7.68
10.70 10.76
9.83 ■ 9.84
12.85 12.88
13.42 13.47
9.69
9.70
7.72
7.74
9.95
13.09
13.73
9.81
7.77
10.00
12.88
10.70
9.82
12.80
13.40
9.67
7.67
10.86
9.84
10.72
9.84
13.18
13.82
9.87
7.81
10.96
10.05
13.26
13.90
9.88
7.91
8.94
8.74
12.85
6.93
5.84
11.18
9.16
8.92
13.81
7.18
5.95
11.42
9.08
8.91
13.44
7.11
5.93
11.26
9.09
8.93
13.80
7.12
5.93
11.27
9.14
8.95
14.28
7.12
5.94
11.37
9.13
8.96
14.53
7.13
5.89
11.40
9.11
8.91
15.57
7.15
5.91
11.41
9.16
14.85
7.14
5.89
11.48
9.12
8.80
14.20
7.16
5.90
11.41
9.28
8.92
12.89
7.23
9.18
Food and kindred p roducts....................................
Tobacco m anufactures...........................................
Textile mill products ................................................
Apparel and other textile products........................
Paper and allied products ......................................
9.24
8.96
13.44
7.31
9.30
9.05
13.56
7.33
Printing and publishing............................................
Chemicals and allied products...............................
Petroleum and coal products.................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics p ro d u c ts .....
Leather and leather products ................................
9.99
11.98
14.18
8.73
5.92
10.28
12.37
14.57
10.16
10.14
12.30
14.50
8.82
6.01
6.12
10.19
12.31
14.52
8.84
6.05
10.19
12.27
14.43
8.87
6.04
10.25
12.37
14.48
8.93
5.98
10.31
12.34
14.52
8.90
6.06
10.17
12.24
14.50
8.80
6.06
T R A N S P O R T A T I O N A N D P U B L I C U T I L I T I E S ......
11.70
12.01
11.93
11.90
11.94
11.95
11.91
12.00
W H O L E S A L E T R A D E .................................................................
9.35
9.61
9.55
9.53
9.53
9.57
9.57
9.57
9.62
9.67
9.67
9.74
9.74
9.79
9.81
R E T A IL T R A D E
6.03
6.12
6.09
6.08
6.09
6.09
6.08
6.07
6.06
6.20
6.16
6.19
6.19
6.23
6.22
M A N U F A C T U R I N G ........................................................................
D u r a b le g o o d s
................................................................................
Lumber and wood p ro d u c ts ...................................
Furniture and fix tu re s ..............................................
Stone, clay, and glass p ro d u c ts............................
Primary metal industries .........................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel p ro d u c ts ..........
Fabricated metal products .....................................
N o n d u r a b le g o o d s
......................................................................
...............................................................................
11.86
8.88
12.21
14.51
8.79
8.88
10.11
10.92
10.91
10.01
10.01
13.22
13.96
9.92
7.96
13.20
13.92
9.95
7.89
9.31
9.05
14.23
7.36
6.04
11.49
6.00
6.01
11.50
11.54
9.32
9.06
14.07
7.38
6.04
11.50
10.42
12.52
14.66
8.91
6.09
10.39
12.56
14.75
8.93
10.44
12.62
14.72
9.00
10.41
12.54
14.91
8.97
6.11
6.11
6.11
10.44
12.49
14.89
8.97
6.16
12.09
12.17
12.17
12.12
12.14
8.86
11.67
12.77
7.24
5.99
11.48
6.01
10.48
12.56
14.71
8.98
6.09
12.04
12.09
6.01
12.10
13.92
10.19
F I N A N C E , I N S U R A N C E , A N D R E A L E S T A T E ......
8.35
8.76
8.75
8.72
8.71
8.72
8.68
8.69
8.81
8.79
8.81
8.94
8.87
9.01
9.05
S E R V IC E S
8.16
8.47
8.43
8.41
8.40
8.38
8.35
8.33
8.40
8.55
8.61
8.71
8.73
8.78
8.80
......................................................................................
- Data not available.
p = preliminary
88
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NOTE: See “ Notes on the data" for a description of the most recent
benchmark revision.
16.
Average weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonagricultural payrolls by industry
Annual average
1988
1987
Industry
1986
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Nov.
Oct.
Dec.
Jan.p
Feb.p
P R IV A T E S E C T O R
Current d o lla rs........................................................ $304.85 $312.50 $307.74 $308.63 $308.29 $310.76 $312.20 $312.74 $315.58 $314.38 $317.24 $318.07 $318.64 $315.79 $317.28
Seasonally adjusted...........................................
309.91 310.07 309.18 312.36 311.11 311.81 314.80 312.09 316.89 318.29 315.21 317.16 318.29
Constant (1977) dollars ....................................... 171.07 169.28 169.74 169.48 168.28 169.17 169.21 169.14 169.76 168.30 169.38 169.64 170.03 167.97
M I N I N G ....................................................................................................
524.97
526.64
527.52
522.92
519.57
526.61
527.46
518.25
522.37
523.30
526.92
527.48
535.00
532.14
527.94
C O N S T R U C T I O N ............................................................................
466.38
477.28
460.37
470.87
469.37
485.10
480.44
485.20
489.06
464.83
496.25
474.88
480.53
465.12
461.19
396.01
222.23
406.31
401.47
221.44
402.87
221.24
398.75
217.78
403.68
219.75
405.66
219.87
400.72
216.72
403.27
216.93
408.00
218.42
410.94
219.40
414.41
221.02
421.34
224.83
412.87
219.61
409.85
220.10
Lumber and wood p ro d u c ts ...................................
Furniture arid fix tu re s ..............................................
Stone, clay, and glass p ro d u c ts ............................
Primary metal in d u strie s .........................................
Blast furnaces and basic steel p ro d u c ts ..........
Fabricated metal products .....................................
424.98
335.70
296.91
424.11
496.93
572.54
408.46
433.68
341.04
306.03
434.42
516.34
603.42
416.25
431.19
337.39
299.41
423.26
503.01
577.58
413.59
432.22
337.00
301.68
425.46
505.90
581.92
414.59
427.03
338.60
294.10
430.68
508.30
593.74
408.18
431.60
345.68
301.78
439.13
514.28
598.92
412.76
434.51
348.57
306.40
437.33
517.10
605.75
417.00
426.40
341.78
300.66
439.03
514.71
602.80
405.96
430.35
345.54
311.92
439.21
515.14
600.74
411.76
432.78
338.35
308.45
442.00
531.22
639.07
410.64
439.32
342.66
313.84
443.33
522.97
610.49
424.62
443.94
343.00
312.29
438.42
529.10
613.28
429.35
450.71
341.38
319.39
435.93
537.03
625.74
437.25
441.79
337.39
306.15
424.13
526.35
609.70
425.94
438.19
341.20
300.70
424.54
525.23
620.49
420.43
Machinery, except electrical ..................................
Electrical and electronic equipm ent......................
Transportation equipm ent.......................................
Motor vehicles and equipm ent............................
Instruments and related products .........................
Miscellaneous m anufacturing.................................
440.54
395.65
541.86
572.97
388.27
298.58
454.49
404.91
545.62
574.01
403.24
304.18
449.63
402.46
546.11
577.37
399.37
301.06
452.38
402.46
547.84
582.77
401.31
301.04
445.12
395.75
536.32
566.82
394.54
297.60
449.40
399.10
542.27
571.69
399.23
302.62
455.15
404.42
539.67
567.09
402.55
304.18
447.86
399.56
526.03
549.10
398.37
299.54
449.77
403.92
530.19
547.94
403.91
303.38
449.70
404.19
538.48
562.66
402.78
302.64
460.46
408.95
553.71
586.27
410.06
310.80
467.18
414.00
561.47
594.26
414.54
309.28
477.86
422.10
566.20
596.31
418.91
314.82
467.38
413.41
557.88
591.90
413.66
308.05
463.68
405.41
553.08
588.82
412.93
302.98
356.71
349.60
480.59
284.82
214.33
482.98
368.23
358.58
531.69
300.84
220.75
495.63
362.29
351.05
486.53
295.78
361.03
351.74
536.93
291.21
212.65
486.64
366.11
359.30
571.03
298.75
219.11
493.62
367.13
357.29
624.36
303.16
221.03
494.05
366.40
354.31
527.18
297.02
217.93
495.94
368.45
358.16
512.62
302.87
484.18
363.60
352.74
525.78
299.04
219.41
483.48
492.91
374.91
363.94
501.42
301.49
218.16
514.65
371.79
360.60
526.12
305.53
224.63
501.68
375.14
365.57
551.04
308.48
224.40
502.55
380.37
371.96
549.18
310.06
225.98
508.91
374.66
366.93
569.84
305.53
221.67
501.40
370.54
358.38
591.97
301.76
221.67
491.77
379.62
501.96
621.08
390.64
523.25
639.62
384.05
514.04
629.73
386.46
515.30
636.55
381.26
519.06
635.10
384.16
518.25
637.43
384.16
516.57
624.82
387.45
518.30
645.81
392.81
519.51
631.62
403.48
537.57
644.30
397.00
530.85
642.11
397.94
537.57
646.05
404.03
545.18
652.10
392.46
534.20
657.53
392.54
530.83
649.20
360.55
218.45
369.41
230.89
364.79
223.57
365.20
227.25
360.74
224.60
366.86
233.53
370.77
237.37
366.13
230.83
368.46
233.79
371.77
229.59
373.33
235.68
375.95
234.01
382.50
235.24
375.84
229.74
371.36
226.07
U T I L I T I E S ...........................................................................................
458.64
469.59
465.27
462.91
463.27
466.05
465.68
472.80
476.78
473.93
475.14
477.06
477.06
471.47
472.25
W H O L E S A L E T R A D E .................................................................
359.04
367.10
361.95
361.19
363.09
366.53
367.49
366.53
369.41
368.43
371.33
373.04
373.04
372.02
371.80
R E T A IL T R A D E
176.08
179.32
174.78
175.71
177.83
178.44
179.97
182.10
183.62
183.52
179.87
179.51
181.37
176.31
177.89
303.94
317.11
318.50
316.54
316.17
316.54
315.95
314.58
320.68
316.44
318.92
324.52
319.32
326.16
331.23
265.20
275.28
273.13
272.48
271.32
271.51
272.21
273.22
276.36
277.02
279.83
283.08
282.85
285.35
287.76
M A N U F A C T U R IN G
Current d o lla rs .........................................................
Constant ( 1977) d o lla rs .........................................
D u r a b le g o o d s
................................................................................
N o n d u r a b le g o o d s
......................................................................
Food and kindred pro d u cts ....................................
Tobacco m anufactures...........................................
Textile mill p ro d u cts................................................
Apparel and other textile products........................
Paper and allied p ro d u c ts ......................................
Printing and publishing............................................
Chemicals and allied products...............................
Petroleum and coal products.................................
Rubber and miscellaneous
plastics p roducts...................................................
Leather and leather products ................................
220.00
2 20.66
-
T R A N S P O R T A T IO N A N D P U B L IC
...............................................................................
F IN A N C E , IN S U R A N C E , A N D R E A L
ESTATE
...............................................................................................
S E R V IC E S
......................................................................................
- Data not available.
p = preliminary
NOTE: See “ Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent benchmark
revision.
7
in ( i i I ! t r y H O U rly E a m in 9 S ln d e x f o r P r o d u c tio n o r n o n s u p e r v is o r y w o r k e r s o n p r iv a t e n o n a g r ic u lt u r a l p a y r o lls b y
Not seasonally adjusted
Industry
P R IV A T E S E C T O R (in c u r r e n t d o lla r s )
M in in g '.......................................................
C o n s tru c tio n .............................................
M a n u fa c tu rin g .........................................
T ra n spo rta tion and public utilitie s ....
W h o lesa le tra d e 1 ....................................
R etail tra de ..............................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s ta te ’
S e r v ic e s ...............................
P R IV A T E S E C T O R [in c o n s ta n t (1 9 7 7 ) d o lla r s ]
---------------------
Dec.
1987
172.2
176.2
176.8
176.9
181.7
151.8
174.0
175.0
176.0
159.4
187.8
179.6
183.7
155.5
177.3
178.6
179.7
162.5
190.9
186.2
184.8
156.7
177.6
177.8
180.3
162.8
193.9
187.2
184.2
156.5
177.7
178.3
180.3
162.8
194.2
187.2
95.0
94.0
94.1
-
Jan.
1988p
a v jju o ic u u c w u n c m e s e a s o n a l u u m p o n e n i IS s m a ll
relative to the trend-cycle, irregular components, or both, and consequently cannot
be separated with sufficient precision.
- Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
S ea so na lly adju sted
Feb.
1987
Feb.
1988p
Feb.
1987
Oct.
1987
Nov.
1987
Dec.
1987
152.4
173.7
174.3
154.7
176.3
176.9
156.6
176.6
177.1
154.4
176.9
177.4
158.9
162.2
162.3
Jan.
1988P
Feb.
1988p
156.8
177.0
177.4
157.1
177.4
177.6
162.8
162.4
186.3
93.8
93.6
93.7
p = preliminary.
NOTE: See “ Notes on the data” for a description of the most recent benchmark
revision.
89
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
18.
April 1988
•
Current L abor Statistics: Em ploym ent D ata
Indexes of diffusion: Industries In which employment increased, data seasonally adjusted
(In p ercent)
Tim e span and year
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
O ver
1986
1987
1988
1 -m onth span:
................................................................................
...............................................................
..........................................................
53.2
53.5
57.6
48.1
56.8
59.7
48.1
58.6
O ver
1986
1987
1988
3-m o nth span:
...........................................................................
.............................................................................
...........................................................................
49.7
58.6
65.9
44,9
59.5
45.7
61.1
O ver
1986
1987
1988
6-m o nth span:
..............................................................
....................................................................................
................................................................................
47.6
61.9
47.6
62.7
”
O ve r
1986
1987
1988
12-m onth span:
...................................................................................
.......................................................................................
...............................................................................
90
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
52.4
58.6
46.8
55.7
52.4
68.6
56.2
54.6
55.1
65.4
53.2
65.4
59.7
71.9
59.7
63.2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
48.4
61.6
47.6
61.4
45.4
67.3
48.4
66.2
55.1
75.1
55.9
69.7
58.1
77.8
58.6
75.9
60.3
70.0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
43.0
58.9
43.2
67.3
45.4
67.6
48.4
71.1
47.3
76.2
53.0
78.6
59.2
80.3
58.9
74.9
57.8
76.5
58.9
-
“
“
“
”
“
“
“
-
-
43.2
62.2
44.1
63.5
46.2
67.3
45.7
68.9
47.8
73.8
49.5
72.4
49.5
76.2
_
54.9
_52.2
55.1
_
_56.5
“
“
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
~
51.6
76.5
spans. Data fo r th e 2 m o st re ce nt m o n th s sh ow n in each span are prelim inary.
S ee th e “ D e finition s” In this section. See “ N o tes on the d a ta " fo r a d escriptio n of
th e m o st re ce nt b e n chm ark revision.
Annual data: Employment status of the noninstitutional population
(N um bers in tho u san ds)
E m p loym en t statu s
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
N o n institu tion a l p o p u la tio n .............................................
166,460
169,349
171,775
173,939
175,891
178,080
179,912
182,293
184,490
L ab or force:
T o ta l (n u m b e r)..............................................................
P ercent o f p o p u la tio n ................................................
106,559
64.0
108,544
64.1
110,315
64.2
111,872
64.3
113,226
64.4
115,241
64.7
117,167
65.1
119,540
65.6
121,602
65.9
100,421
60.3
1,597
100,907
59.6
1,604
102,042
59.4
1,645
101,194
58.2
1,668
102,510
58.3
1,676
106,702
59.9
1,697
108,856
60.5
1,706
111,303
61.1
1,706
114,177
61.9
1,737
98,824
3 ,347
9 5,477
99,303
3,364
95,938
100,397
3,368
97,030
99,526
3,401
96,125
100,834
3,383
97,450
105,005
3,321
101,685
107,150
3 ,179
103,971
109,597
3,163
106,434
112.440
3,208
109,232
U nem ployed:
T o ta l (n u m b e r)......................................................
P ercen t o f labor f o r c e .......................................
6,137
5.8
7,637
7.0
8,273
7.5
10,678
9.5
10,717
9.5
8,539
7.4
8,312
7.1
8,237
6.9
7,425
6.1
N o t in la bo r fo rc e (num ber) .......................................
59,900
60,806
61,460
62,067
6 2,665
62,839
62,744
6 2,752
62,888
E m ployed:
T o ta l (num ber) .......................................................
P ercen t o f pop ulatio n .........................................
R esid en t A rm e d F o rc e s ..................................
Civilian
T o ta l ....................................................................
A g r ic u ltu re ......................................................
N o na g ricu ltural in d u s trie s .........................
20.
Annual data: Employment levels by industry
(N um b e rs in thou san ds)
Industry
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
T o ta l e m p lo y m e n t....................................................................................
Private s e c to r .........................................................................................
G o o d s -p ro d u c in g ...............................................................................
M in in g ................................................
C o n structio n .................................................................................
M a n u fa c tu rin g ...............................................................................
89,623
73,876
26,461
958
4,463
21,040
90,406
74,166
25,658
1,027
4,346
20,285
91,156
75,126
25,497
1,139
4,188
20,170
89,566
73,729
23,813
1,128
3,905
18,781
90,200
74,330
23,334
952
3,948
18,434
94,496
78,472
24,727
966
4,383
19,378
97,519
81,125
24,859
927
4,673
19,260
99,610
82,900
24,681
783
4,904
18,994
102,112
85,049
24,884
741
5,031
19,112
63,363
5,136
5,204
14,989
4.975
17,112
64,748
5,146
5,275
15,035
5,160
17,890
6 5,659
5,165
5,358
15,199
5,298
18,619
65,753
5,082
5,278
15,179
5,341
19,036
66,866
4,954
5,268
15,613
5,468
19,694
6 9,769
5,159
5,555
16,545
5,689
20,797
72,660
5,238
5,717
17,356
5,955
22,000-
74,930
5,244
5,735
17,845
6,297
23,099
77,228
5 ’378
5,797
18,264
6,589
24,137
15,947
2,773
3,541
9,633
16,241
2,866
3,610
9,765
16,031
2,772
3,640
9,619
15,837
2,739
3,640
9,458
15,869
2.774
3,662
9,434
16,024
2,807
3,734
9,482
16,394
2,875
3,832
9,687
16,711
2,899
3,888
9,923
17,063
2,943
3,952
10,167
S e rv ic e -p ro d u c in g .........................
T ra n spo rta tion and pub lic u tilit ie s ...............
W h o lesa le trade .......................
R etail trade ................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s t a t e ..................
S e r v ic e s ..............................................
G o v e rn m e n t..................................
F e d e ra l...............................................
S ta te ..................................................
Local .........................................................
NO TE:
Dec.
53.5
58.4
- D ata not available.
NO TE: Figures are th e p e rcen t o f in du strie s w ith e m p loym en t rising. (H alf o f
th e unch an g ed co m p o n e n ts are co u n te d as rising.) D ata are ce n te re d w ith in th e
19.
May
S ee “ N o tes on the d a ta ” fo r a d escriptio n o f th e m o st re ce nt b e n chm ark revision.
21. Annual data: Average hours and earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on nonagricultural
payrolls, by industry
Industry
1984
1985
1986
1987
280.70
35.2
8.32
292.86
34.9
8.57
299.09
34.8
8.76
304.85
34.8
8.98
312.50
42.7
10.77
459.88
42.5
11.28
479.40
43.3
11.63
503.58
43.4
11.98
519.93
42.2
12.44
524.97
42.3
12.45
526.64
36.9
10.82
399.26
36.7
11.63
426.82
37.1
11.94
442.97
37.8
12.13
458.51
37.7
12.32
464.46
37.4
12.47
466.38
12.66
477.28
39.7
7.27
288.62
39.8
7.99
318.00
38.9
8.49
330.26
40.1
8.83
354.08
40.7
9.19
374.03
40.5
9.54
386.37
40.7
9.73
396.01
41.0
9.91
406.31
39.9
8.16
325.58
39.6
8.87
351.25
39.4
9.70
382.18
39.0
10.32
402.48
39.0
10.79
420.81
39.4
438.13
39.5
11.40
450.30
39.2
11.70
458.64
469.59
38.8
6.39
247.93
38.5
6.96
267.96
38.5
7.56
291.06
38.3
8.09
309.85
38.5
8.55
329.18
38.5
8.89
342.27
38.4
9.16
351.74
38.4
9.35
359.04
38.2
9.61
367.10
30.6
4.53
138.62
30.2
4.88
147.38
30.1
5.25
158.03
29.9
5.48
163.85
29.8
5.74
171.05
29.8
5.85
174.33
29.4
5.94
174.64
29.2
6.03
176.08
29.3
179.32
36.2
5.27
190.77
36.2
5.79
209.60
36.3
6.31
229.05
36.2
6.78
245.44
36.2
7.29
263.90
36.5
7.63
278.50
36.4
7.94
289.02
36.4
8.35
303.94
36.2
8.76
317.11
32.7
5.36
175.27
32.6
5.85
190.71
32.6
6.41
208.97
32.6
6.92
225.59
32.7
7.31
239.04
32.6
7.59
247.43
32.5
7.90
256.75
32.5
8.16
265.20
32.5
8.47
275.28
1981
1982
1983
235.10
35.2
7.25
255.20
34.8
7.68
267.26
43.0
8.49
365.07
43.3
9.17
397.06
43.7
10.04
438.75
37.0
9.27
342.99
37.0
9.94
367.78
40.2
6.70
269.34
1979
1980
35.7
6.16
219.91
P r iv a te s e c t o r
Average weekly h o u rs .................................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs ).........................................
Average weekly earnings (in dollars) .......................................
35.3
6.66
35.0
8.02
M in in g
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs )...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
C o n s tr u c tio n
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs )...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
37.7
M a n u fa c tu r in g
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in dollars) ...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
T r a n s p o r t a t io n a n d p u b lic u tilitie s
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in dollars) ...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
11.12
39.1
12.01
W h o le s a le tr a d e
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs )...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
R e ta il t r a d e
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs )...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
6.12
F in a n c e , in s u r a n c e , a n d r e a l e s t a t e
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in d o lla rs )...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
S e r v ic e s
Average weekly hours ...........................................................
Average hourly earnings (in dollars) ...................................
Average weekly earnings (in d o lla rs )..................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
22.
April 1988
•
Current L abor Statistics: Com pensation and Industrial Relations D ata
Employment Cost Index, compensation,1 by occupation and industry group
(June 1981=100)
1985
1986
1987
Percent change
Series
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
3
months
ended
12
months
ended
Dec. 1987
C ivilian w o rk e rs 2 ..........................................................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar workers .................................................................
Blue-collar w o rkers....................................................................
Service occupations..................................................................
Workers, by industry division:
G oods-producing.........................................................................
M anufacturing............................................................................
Service-producing.......................................................................
Services.....................................................................................
Health s e rvices......................................................................
H ospitals.................................................................................
Public administration 3 .............................................................
Nonmanufacturing.......................................................................
Private Industry w o rk e r s ..........................................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rkers...............................................................
Professional specialty and technical o ccup ations..........
Executive, administrative, and managerial occupations
Sales occupations.................................................................
Administrative support occupations, including
c le ric a l...................................................................................
Blue-collar w o rkers.................................................................
Precision production, craft, and repair o ccup ation.........
Machine operators, assemblers, and in s p e c to rs ............
Transportation and material moving occupations...........
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers ....
Service occup ations...............................................................
Workers, by industry division:
Goods-producing......................................................................
Construction ............................................................................
M anufacturing..............................................................
Durables .................................................................................
N ondurables..........................................................................
Service-producing ....................................................................
Transportation and public utilities........................................
Transportation........................................................................
Public u tilitie s .........................................................................
Wholesale and retail tra d e ...................................................
Wholesale t ra d e ....................................................................
Retail trade ....................................................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s ta te ....................................
S e rv ic e ............................................................................
Health se rvice s.........................................................
Hospitals ..................................................................
Nonmanufacturing ..................................................................
S t a t e a n d lo c a l g o v e r n m e n t w o r k e r s
..............................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rkers..........................................................
Blue-collar w o rk e rs ......................................................
Workers, by industry division:
S e rv ic e s ..................................................................
Hospitals and other services 4 ...........................................
Health s e rv ic e s ................................................................
Schools ..........................................................................
Elementary and secon dary.............................................
Public administration 3 .............................................................
129.2
130.6
131.5
133.0
133.8
135.0
135.9
137.5
138.6
0.8
3.6
131.6
124.9
131.8
133.1
126.2
133.1
134.2
126.8
133.7
136.0
127.8
135.4
136.9
128.4
136.6
138.5
129.1
138.0
139.3
130.1
138.5
141.2
131.3
139.9
142.2
132.5
140.8
.7
.9
3.9
3.2
3.1
125.5
126.0
131.5
137.1
134.8
130.6
126.9
127.7
132.9
138.8
_
136.8
131.9
128.1
128.7
133.7
139.4
_
138.0
132.8
128.8
129.3
135.6
142.4
_
140.6
134.6
129.5
130.1
136.5
143.6
_
-
131.1
131.5
138.9
145.8
_
-
132.2
132.7
140.8
149.2
_
-
133.5
134.1
141.7
150.6
_
-
1.0
1.1
.6
141.6
135.4
130.2
130.7
138.1
145.2
_
144.1
136.9
144.75'
137.8
146.4
139.6
127.5
128.9
129.9
130.8
131.6
132.9
133.8
129.8
-
131.3
-
132.5
-
133.5
-
134.3
-
136.1
-
124.4
129.5
125.7
130.9
126.3
131.1
127.2
132.3
127.8
133.5
125.3
126.0
_
-
126.7
127.7
_
-
127.8
128.7
_
-
128.6
-
129.4
_
_
_
_
_
130.8
_
_
_
_
_
_
131.6
_
_
_
_
_
135.1
136.0
.7
3.3
137.0
-
138.5
-
139.3
-
.6
.9
.5
-.3
3.7
4.1
4.4
128.4
134.7
129.5
135.2
130.6
135.9
_
131.8
136.7
129.2
_
129.9
-
130.8
-
133.2
-
1.0
129.3
_
-
130.1
_
_
130.7
_
_
131.5
_
_
131.9
132.7
_
_
134.1
_
_
1.1
1.0
1.2
132.7
_
_
_
_
133.5
_
_
_
136.3
_
_
_
_
137.7
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
138.4
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
.5
.4
_
135.3
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
.1
.1
1.0
1.2
5.2
4.3
4.9
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
.9
.9
.9
.8
1.3
.6
1.1
.6
.7
.2
.6
.2
.7
1.2
4.1
3.1
3.1
3.4
2.9
2.8
2.4
3.1
3.7
3.1
2.7
3.8
3.7
3.0
2.7
3.3
3.0
4.0
2.5
2.0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.3
128.4
129.7
130.6
131.7
132.4
134.1
135.1
136.4
137.1
.5
3.5
137.5
138.9
139.7
143.6
144.7
145.9
146.3
149.7
151.1
.9
4.4
138.6
132.7
140.0
134.7
140.5
136.3
145.0
138.5
146.0
139.5
147.2
140.8
147.5
141.3
151.2
143.3
152.7
144.3
1.0
4.6
3.4
139.1
135.2
140.4
136.8
140.8
137.9
145.5
139.4
146.6
141.1
147.3
142.5
147.6
143.3
151.8
145.1
153.1
146.3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
.8
1.1
140.3
142.0
134.8
141.5
143.0
136.8
141.7
143.2
138.0
147.6
149.4
140.6
148.4
150.3
141.6
148.9
150.5
144.1
149.1
150.7
144.7
154.1
156.5
146.4
155.5
157.8
148.1
.8
1.2
1 Cost (cents per hour worked) measured in the Employment Cost Index
consists of wages, salaries, and employer cost of employee benefits.
2 Consist of private industry workers (excluding farm and household workers)
and State and local government (excluding Federal Government) workers.
92
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
148.1
140.5
1.2
1.2
1.2
.6
3.1
3.1
3.8
4.9
4.4
4.8
4.6
3.8
_
_
_
_
.6
.7
.9
.9
3 Consist of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory
4 Includes, for example, library, social, and health services.
-
Data not available.
4.4
3.7
4.7
4.8
5.0
4.6
activities.
23.
Employment Cost Index, wages and salaries, by occupation and industry group
(June 1981=100)
Percent change
1987
1986
1985
Series
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
3
months
ended
12
months
ended
Dec. 1987
C ivilian w o rkers 1 ..........................................................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar workers .................................................................
Blue-collar w o rkers....................................................................
Service occupations..................................................................
Workers, by industry division
G oods-producing.........................................................................
M anufacturing............................................................................
Service-producing .......................................................................
S e rv ic e s ...................................................................................
Health se rvice s......................................................................
H ospitals.................................................................................
Public administration 2 ...........................................................
Nonmanufacturing .....................................................................
127.0
128.3
129.3
130.7
131.5
132.8
133.5
135.2
136.1
0.7
3.5
129.8
122.3
128.6
131.2
123.4
129.8
132.4
124.1
130.0
134.1
125.0
131.7
135.0
125.6
132.8
136.6
126.2
134.2
137.3
127.1
134.7
139.4
128.3
136.0
140.2
129.4
136.6
.6
3.9
3.0
2.9
123.1
123.8
129.4
134.8
-
124.4
125.3
130.7
136.4
133.8
129.6
125.6
126.5
131.5
137.0
134.6
130.4
126.3
127.2
133.4
139.9
137.5
132.2
127.0
127.9
134.2
141.1
138.1
133.0
127.8
128.7
135.8
142.7
140.5
134.5
128.5
129.5
136.5
143.4
141.0
135.2
129.8
130.8
138.5
146.8
142.6
137.1
131.0
132.2
139.2
148.2
143.8
137.8
-
132.0
128.4
.9
.4
.5
3.1
3.4
3.7
5.0
4.6
5.0
4.1
3.6
.9
1.1
.5
1.0
1.1
1.2
.8
Private in dustry w o r k e r s ......................................................
Workers, by occupational group:
White-collar w o rke rs............................................................
Professional specialty and technical occup ations......
Executive, administrative, and managerial
o ccup ations......................................................................
Sales occupations.............................................................
Administrative support occupations, including
c le ric a l...............................................................................
125.6
126.8
127.9
128.8
129.5
130.8
131.7
133.0
133.8
.6
3.3
128.3
131.5
129.6
132.7
131.1
134.0
132.0
135.4
132.7
136.4
134.6
138.4
135.4
139.1
137.0
141.2
137.6
142.6
.4
1.0
3.7
4.5
128.4
122.5
130.5
122.4
132.1
124.3
132.4
125.2
133.5
124.9
135.6
126.7
136.4
127.1
138.6
127.0
139.2
126.1
.4
-.7
4.3
127.9
129.6
130.8
131.7
132.7
134.3
135.5
137.1
138.1
.7
4.1
Blue-collar w o rk e rs ..............................................................
Precision production, craft, and repair
occup ations.....................................................................
Machine operators, assemblers, and in spectors........
Transportation and material moving occupations.......
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and
la b o re rs.............................................................................
Service occu p a tio n s............................................................
122.0
123.1
123.7
124.5
125.1
125.6
126.6
127.7
128.9
.9
3.0
123.8
125.3
121.6
122.6
118.0
125.7
123.6
118.9
126.7
124.1
119.8
127.4
124.9
117.8
120.1
127.9
125.5
120.5
128.8
126.7
121.5
130.2
127.5
122.3
131.1
129.2
122.9
.7
1.3
.5
2.9
3.4
2.3
119.8
126.6
120.3
128.0
120.9
128.9
121.4
130.1
121.9
131.4
122.6
131.9
123.7
132.6
125.0
133.2
1.1
128.0
3.0
2.4
122.9
117.9
123.8
123.4
124.6
127.8
125.2
123.7
128.3
121.9
126.5
134.1
124.2
118.3
125.3
124.8
126.1
129.0
126.3
124.5
129.7
122.5
126.6
136.2
125.4
119.8
126.5
125.8
127.9
129.9
126.6
125.8
131.2
123.7
128.0
136.9
126.1
120.5
127.2
126.4
128.5
130.9
127.3
126.5
131.8
124.4
129.0
138.2
-
126.8
127.9
127.2
129.3
131.6
127.5
126.9
133.1
124.5
130.0
139.5
-
127.5
121.7
128.7
127.7
130.5
133.4
128.1
127.9
134.8
125.2
133.5
141.8
-
128.3
122.7
129.5
128.7
131.0
134.3
129.3
129.9
137.2
127.1
131.5
142.8
-
129.6
123.8
130.8
129.7
132.8
135.7
130.0
130.6
137.8
127.8
131.8
145.9
-
130.8
124.7
132.2
131.1
134.1
136.2
130.2
130.7
138.5
127.7
131.6
147.1
-
Workers, by industry division:
G oods-producing...................................................................
Construction .........................................................................
M anufacturing.......................................................................
D u rab les.............................................................................
Nondurables.......................................................................
Service-producing..................................................................
Transportation and public u tilitie s ..................................
Transportation..................................................................
Public utilitie s....................................................................
Wholesale and retail tra d e ..............................................
Wholesale trade .............................................................
Retail tra d e ......................................................................
Finance, insurance, and real e s ta te ..............................
S e rvices..............................................................................
Health services ................................................................
H o spitals..........................................................................
-
-
120.0
-
-
-
-
-
120.8
-
-
-
.5
.9
.7
1.1
1.1
1.0
.4
.2
-.2
.6
.1
.5
1.0
3.2
3.2
3.4
3.1
3.7
3.5
2.1
1.7
2.6
3.0
4.1
2.6
1.2
-.1
-.2
.8
1.1
1.2
5.4
4.6
5.1
Nonmanufacturing................................................................
126.6
127.7
128.7
129.7
130.4
131.9
132.8
134.2
134.8
.4
3.4
State and local g ove rnm ent w o rk e r s ................................
Workers, by occupational group
White-collar w o rke rs............................................................
Blue-collar w o rk e rs ..............................................................
Workers, by industry division
Services ................................................................................
Hospitals and other services 3 .......................................
Health services ................................................................
S ch o o ls...............................................................................
Elementary and secondary .........................................
Public administration 2 ........................................................
134.2
135.5
136.0
140.4
141.4
142.5
142.8
146.1
147.4
.9
4.2
135.3
128.4
136.6
130.4
137.0
131.9
141.8
134.5
142.8
135.1
143.9
136.3
144.1
136.9
147.7
139.0
149.3
139.6
1.1
4.6
3.3
135.6
130.9
136.8
132.4
137.1
133.3
142.1
135.8
143.3
137.3
143.9
138.6
145.5
146.5
140.5
144.2
139.4
145.6
146.6
141.0
148.2
141.2
150.3
152.0
142.6
149.5
142.2
151.8
153.4
143.8
1
2
-
137.0
138.5
132.0
-
138.0
139.4
133.8
Consists of private industry workers (excluding farm and household workers)
and State and local government (excluding Federal Government) workers.
Consists of legislative, judicial, administrative, and regulatory activities.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
138.2
139.4
134.6
-
144.1
145.7
137.5
-
145.1
146.4
138.1
3 Includes, for example, library, social and health services,
- Data not available.
.4
.9
.7
1.0
1.0
.9
.8
4.3
3.6
4.4
4.6
4.8
4.1
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW April 1988
24.
•
Current Labor Statistics: Compensation and Industrial Relations Data
Employment Cost Index, private nonfarm workers, by bargaining status, region, and area size
(June 1981=100)
1985
1986
Percent change
1987
3
months
ended
Series
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
Sept.
June
Dec.
12
months
ended
Dec. 1987
C O M P E N S A T IO N
W o r k e r s , b y b a r g a in in g s t a t u s '
Union .............................................................................................
G oods-producing.......................................................................
Service-producing......................................................................
Manufacturing ............................................................................
Nonmanufacturing .....................................................................
127.1
125.2
130.2
125.5
128.6
128.4
126.4
131.6
127.0
129.7
128.7
126.7
131.9
126.9
130.4
129.4
127.3
132.8
127.5
131.2
129.8
127.5
133.4
127.9
131.5
130.5
128.0
134.4
128.0
132.6
131.2
128.7
135.2
128.7
133.5
132.0
129.5
135.9
129.5
134.3
133.4
131.3
136.7
131.5
135.1
1.1
2.8
1.4
3.0
2.5
N o nunion.......................................................................................
G oods-producing.......................................................................
Service-producing......................................................................
Manufacturing ............................................................................
Nonmanufacturing .....................................................................
127.5
125.1
129.0
126.3
128.1
129.0
126.7
130.4
128.1
129.5
130.2
128.2
131.4
129.7
130.4
131.2
129.1
132.5
130.4
131.6
132.1
130.0
133.4
131.4
132.5
133.6
130.8
135.3
132.2
134.3
134.6
131.8
136.4
133.2
135.3
136.1
133.1
137.9
134.6
136.8
129.9
127.2
124.6
129.8
131.6
128.7
125.9
130.8
133.3
129.6
126.2
131.6
134.2
130.7
127.3
132.1
135.2
131.4
128.1
132.8
137.4
132.1
129.1
134.1
138.6
133.2
130.2
134.2
128.1
123.9
129.5
125.5
130.5
126.4
131.4
127.2
132.2
127.9
133.5
129.0
Union .............................................................................................
G oods-producing.......................................................................
Service-producing......................................................................
Manufacturing ............................................................................
Nonm anufacturing.....................................................................
124.7
122.7
127.8
123.3
125.9
125.6
123.4
129.0
124.2
126.9
126.1
124.1
129.3
124.6
127.4
126.9
124.5
130.5
125.0
128.5
127.2
124.8
130.9
125.5
128.7
N o nunion.......................................................................................
G oods-producing.......................................................................
Service-producing......................................................................
Manufacturing ............................................................................
Nonmanufacturing .....................................................................
125.9
123.0
127.7
124.4
126.6
127.3
124.5
128.9
126.1
127.8
128.5
126.1
129.9
127.7
128.9
129.4
127.0
130.8
128.5
129.8
128.1
125.4
122.9
127.1
129.2
126.8
124.2
128.1
131.3
127.8
124.4
128.9
126.3
127.4
123.6
128.5
124.5
.6
1.5
2.8
.6
2.7
136.9
134.1
138.6
135.6
137.5
.6
.8
3.6
3.2
3.9
3.2
3.8
140.3
134.2
131.2
135.8
141.9
135.4
131.7
136.3
1.1
134.4
130.2
135.8
131.3
136.7
132.0
.7
.5
127.7
125.0
131.7
125.6
129.5
128.3
125.8
132.2
126.2
130.1
129.1
126.5
132.9
127.0
130.8
130.5
128.5
133.6
129.3
131.5
1.1
1.6
3.0
.5
2.1
130.3
127.8
131.7
129.5
130.6
131.8
128.8
133.6
130.6
132.4
132.8
129.6
134.6
131.5
133.4
134.3
131.1
136.2
133.0
134.9
135.0
132.1
136.7
133.9
135.4
132.3
128.8
125.3
129.3
133.1
129.4
126.2
130.1
135.4
130.1
127.4
131.2
136.6
131.1
128.5
131.1
138.3
132.1
129.6
133.1
139.7
133.0
129.9
133.5
1.0
5.0
.7
2.8
.2
2.9
.3
2.6
129.4
125.0
130.2
125.6
131.6
126.6
132.4
127.8
133.7
129.1
134.6
129.8
.7
.5
3.4
3.3
.5
.7
.5
W o r k e r s , b y r e g io n 1
N ortheast.......................................................................................
South .............................................................................................
Midwest (formerly North C e ntral)..............................................
W e s t................................................................................................
5.0
3.0
.9
.4
.4
2.8
2.6
W o r k e r s , b y a r e a s iz e 1
Metropolitan a re a s .......................................................................
Other a re a s ...................................................................................
3.4
3.2
W A G E S A N D S A L A R IE S
W o r k e r s , b y b a r g a in in g s ta tu s 1
2.6
1.8
3.0
.5
2.2
.5
3.6
3.4
3.8
3.4
3.7
.8
.4
.7
.4
W o r k e r s , b y r e g io n '
N ortheast.......................................................................................
South ...........................................................................................
Midwest (formerly North C e ntral)..............................................
W e s t.............................................................................
W o r k e r s , b y a r e a s iz e '
Metropolitan a re a s .......................................................................
Other a re a s ...................................................................................
122.0
1 The indexes are calculated differently from those for the occupation and
industry groups. For a detailed description of the index calculation, see the
Monthly Labor Review Technical
Employment Cost Index,” May 1982.
Note,
“ Estimation
procedures
for
the
25. Specified compensation and wage adjustments from contract settlements, and effective wage adjustments, private
industry collective bargaining situations covering 1,000 workers or more (in percent)
Quarterly average
Annual average
1987
1986
Measure
1985
1986
IF
IVP
IIP
I
II
III
IV
I
0.7
0.7
1.2
2.7
2.4
1.7
2.4
4.1
3.9
2.5
1.6
2.0
2.1
1.2
1.8
2.6
2.9
2.1
2.0
1.0
.2
.9
.8
.2
.3
.6
.1
.3
S p e c ifie d a d ju s tm e n ts :
Total compensation 1 adjustments, 2 settlements
covering 5,000 workers or more:
First year of c o n tra c t...............................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t............................
2.7
1.1
1.6
0.6
1.2
Wage adjustments, settlements covering 1,000
workers or more:
First year of c o n tra c t...............................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t............................
2.3
2.7
1.2
1.8
.8
1.3
.8
1.5
2.0
1.5
3.3
.7
2.3
.5
1.8
1.7
.4
.7
.2
.2
2.6
2.1
3.4
2.4
2.4
1.8
E f f e c t iv e a d ju s tm e n ts :
Total effective wage adjustment 3 ............................
From settlements reached in period .....................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier
p erio ds.......................................................................
From cost-of-living-adjustments c la u s e s ..............
.6
(4)
' Compensation includes wages, salaries, and employers’ cost of employee
benefits when contract is negotiated.
2 Adjustments are the net result of increases, decreases, and no changes in
compensation or wages.
94
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
.7
.5
.5
.2
.1
.2
.5
.2
.1
.6
(4)
(4)
.4
(4)
.3
.7
.1
.2
3 Because of rounding, total may not equal sum of parts,
4 Between -0.0 5 and 0.05 percent.
p
= preliminary,
.2
26. Average specified compensation and wage adjustments, major collective bargaining settlements in private
industry situations covering 1,000 workers or more during 4-quarter periods (in percent)
Average for four quarters ending1987
1986
Measure
I
II
IV
III
IF
I
IMP
IVP
Specified total compensation adjustments, settlements covering 5,000
workers or more, all industries:
First year of c o n tra c t...................................................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t................................................................
2.3
2.5
2.0
1.4
2.0
1.6
2.2
1.5
0.9
1.4
1.1
1.6
1.2
2.2
.8
1.9
.9
1.2
1.9
1.7
2.1
1.2
2.0
1.5
3.1
2.8
2.6
2.6
Specified wage adjustments, settlements covering 1,000 workers or
more:
All industries
First year of c o n tra c t........................................................................ ........
Contracts with COLA C lauses...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.............................................................
Contracts with COLA c la u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Manufacturing
First year of c o n tra c t.................................................................................
Contracts with COLA cla u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.............................................................
Contracts with COLA cla u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Nonmanufacturing
First year of c o n tra c t.................................................................................
Contracts with COLA cla u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.............................................................
Contracts with COLA cla u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Construction
First year of c o n tra c t................................................................................
Contracts with COLA cla u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.............................................................
Contracts with COLA cla u s e s ...............................................................
Contracts without COLA clauses .........................................................
1 Data do not meet publication standards.
2
Between -0.0 5 and 0.05 percent.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1.6
1.8
2.5
2.5
2.5
1.2
2.2
1.7
1.8
2.5
1.7
2.1
2.0
1.6
.1
- 1.0
1.1
- 2.0
- 1.2
1.3
- 2.8
1.8
2.1
.7
-.4
1.4
.3
.2
2.0
1.5
.9
1.1
-.1
.8
.8
.9
2.8
2.6
2.1
3.5
2.7
3.0
3.6
3.4
2.4
3.3
2.7
1.9
2.3
2.5
2.8
2.6
2.2
1.6
2.3
2.3
1.4
2.4
2.2
2.4
2.5
2.8
O
0
1.1
O
1.2
2.6
(1)
p
2.6
1.6
2.6
= preliminary.
1.8
.9
1.4
1.8
1.8
1.8
2.0
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.2
1.7
1.7
1.5
2.2
2.6
2.6
-.8
1.8
-1.5
1.3
-3.5
(2)
1.3
-2.7
.3
-.2
.8
-.6
.8
-.2
1.1
2.1
-.1
1.0
1.0
1.2
2.0
2.1
2.0
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.3
2.5
2.1
2.1
2.4
2.7
2.3
2.4
2.2
2.6
2.6
2.2
2.8
2.8
2.1
.9
2.4
2.2
1.4
2.3
2.5
2.4
1.6
1.6
2.4
2.5
1.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
3.7
2.7
2.9
3.8
2.9
2.2
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.1
2.4
1.3
1.3
1.0
2.1
2,4
1.9
2.5
2.7
2.7
2.4
3.0
2.8
3.0
O
O
(’ )
0
2.9
(')
(')
3.2
3.1
(')
(')
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Compensation and Industrial Relations Data
27. Average effective wage adjustments, private industry collective bargaining situations covering 1,000
workers or more during 4-quarter periods (in percent)
Average for four quarters ending--
For all w o rk e rs :1
T o ta l................................................................................................................
From settlements reached in period ......................................................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier period ..........................
From cost-of-living-adjustments c la u s e s ................................................
For w o rk e rs receiving changes:
T o ta l................................................................................................................
From settlements reached in period ......................................................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier p e rio d ..........................
From cost-of-living-adjustments c la u s e s ...............................................
1987
1986
Effective wage adjustment
II
III
IV
I
IF
IMP
IVP
2.9
.5
2.3
.5
2.2
2.6
.4
1.5
.3
1.6
.7
.2
.1
.3
.5
1.7
.4
3.1
.7
1.6
.2
2.3
.5
1.7
2.0
1.8
3.8
2.5
3.4
3.1
1.7
3.8
2.8
1.6
2.5
1.2
2.8
1.0
3.9
3.7
3.5
2.0
1.0
1.0
.6
1.8
1 Because of rounding, total may not equal sum of parts.
p
3.2
1.9
3.3
2.3
1.8
.5
3.6
2.9
3.3
2.6
= preliminary.
28. Specified compensation and wage adjustments from contract settlements, and effective wage adjustments, State and
local government collective bargaining situations covering 1,000 workers or more (in percent)
Annual average
Measure
1985
1986
4.2
5.1
6.2
6.0
4.9
4.8
4.6
5.4
5.7
5.1
5.5
2.4
3.0
49
1987
Specified adjustments:
Total compensation 1 adjustments, 2 settlements covering 5,000 workers or more:
First year of contract ..........................................................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t......................................................
Wage adjustments, settlements covering 1 ,000 workers or more:
First year of c o n tra c t............................................................................................
Annual rate over life of c o n tra c t.....................................................................................
Effective adjustments:
Total effective wage adjustment 3 ...................................................................................
From settlements reached in perio d ....................................................................
Deferred from settlements reached in earlier periods ..........................................................................................................
From cost-of-living-adjustment c la u s e s ......................................................................
1 Compensation includes wages, salaries, and employers’ cost of employee
benefits when contract is negotiated.
2 Adjustments are the net result of increases, decreases, and no changes in
compensation or wages.
96
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
5.7
4.1
1.6
Because of rounding, total may not equal sum of parts.
Less than 0.05 percent.
2.6
2.2
(4)
29.
Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more
1988
1987
Annual totals
Measure
1986
Number of stoppages:
Beginning in p e rio d .......................
In effect during p e rio d ..................
Workers involved:
Beginning in period (in
thousands)....................................
In effect during period (in
thousands)....................................
Days idle:
Number (in thousands).................
Percent of estimated working
tim e 1 ...............................................
1987
Mar.
Feb.
Apr.
July
Sept.
Aug.
Oct.
Nov.
Jan.p
Dec.
Feb.p
69
72
46
51
5
7
3
5
2
3
7
8
12
6
3
6
11
5
11
1
12
2
14
7
15
0
5
5
5
8
533.0
174.4
37.6
12.2
2.7
7.0
16.1
8.4
18.4
45.9
1.3
11.8
.0
6.2
17.5
899.5
377.7
41.6
16.2
8.9
13.9
25.8
31.1
36.0
71.9
53.7
22.2
8.9
9.8
21.1
1,186.1
4,480.8
194.1
104.4
151.3
201.2
278.0
471.0
361.4
1,155.1
353.3
222.9
159.4
87.0
337.0
.02
.01
.01
.01
.01
.01
.02
.02
.05
.02
.01
.01
.02
.02
.05
1
Agricultural and government employees are Included In the total employed and total
working time: private household, forestry, and fishery employees are excluded. An explanation of the measurement of idleness as a percentage of the total time worked is found
in ‘“ Total economy’ measure of strike idleness,” M onthly Labor Review, October 1968,
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
June
May
pp. 54-56.
p = preliminary
97
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
30. Consumer Price Indexes for All Urban Consumers and for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers: U.S. city
average, by expenditure category and commodity or service group
(1982-84=100, unless otherwise indicated)
Series
Annual
average
1986
1987
All ite m s .....................................................................................................
All items (1 9 6 7 -1 0 0 ) ..............................................................................
109.6
328.4
113.6
340.4
Food and beverages ............................................................................
F o o d ......................................................................................................
Food at home ...................................................................................
Cereals and bakery p ro d u c ts ......................................................
Meats, poultry, fish, and e g g s .....................................................
Dairy p ro d u cts................................................................................
Fruits and vegetables...................................................................
Other foods at h o m e ....................................................................
Sugar and s w e e ts ......................................................................
Fats and o ils ................................................................................
Nonalcoholic beverages............................................................
Other prepared fo o d s ................................................................
Food away from home ...................................................................
Alcoholic beverages...........................................................................
109.1
109.0
107.3
110.9
104.5
103.3
109.4
109.4
109.0
106.5
110.4
109.2
112.5
113.5
113.5
111.9
114.8
110.5
105.9
119.1
110.5
Housing ...................................................................................................
Shelter ..................................................................................................
Renters’ costs (12 /8 2 —1 0 0 )........................................................
Rent, reside ntial............................................................................
Other renters’ costs .....................................................................
Homeowners’ costs (1 2 /8 2 —1 0 0 )................................................
Owners’ equivalent rent (1 2 /8 2 -1 0 0 ) .....................................
Household insurance (1 2 /8 2 —1 0 0 )..........................................
Maintenance and repairs................................................................
Maintenance and repair services ...............................................
Maintenance and repair com m odities.......................................
Fuel and other u tilitie s .......................................................................
Fuels ..................................................................................................
Fuel oil, coal, and bottled g a s ....................................................
Gas (piped) and electricity ..........................................................
Other utilities and public s e rv ic e s .................................................
Household furnishings and ope ratio ns...........................................
H ousefurnishings.............................................................................
Housekeeping supp lie s...................................................................
Housekeeping services...................................................................
110.9
115.8
121.9
118.3
118.6
119.4
119.4
119.2
107.9
114.2
121.3
128.1
123.1
127.4
124.8
124.8
124.0
111.2
114.8
107.8
103.0
97.3
77.9
103.8
1987
Feb.
1988
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
112.7
337.7
113.1
338.7
113.5
340.1
113.8
340.8
114.4
342.7
115.0
344.4
115.3
345.3
115.4
345.8
115.4
345.7
115.7
346.7
116.0
347.4
112.8
112.8
113.3
113.3
113.8
113.8
113.7
113.7
113.8
113.8
114.8
114.7
112.0
112.6
112.1
112.1
112.1
112.8
114.6
109.6
105.7
114.7
110.4
105.5
124.1
115.2
111.4
105.3
119.6
115.3
111.9
105.7
117.4
110.4
111.3
108.3
105.9
114.8
117.5
114.7
114.3
114.3
112.4
115.6
114.3
114.2
111.3
114.3
108.6
105.3
114.2
114.1
112.4
115.4
112.7
106.4
117.4
110.3
116.2
115.8
115.7
113.9
118.7
112.0
111.2
106.9
117.8
106.9
117.4
116.8
110.3
106.7
123.4
115.7
115.7
114.1
118.1
C O N S U M E R P R IC E IN D E X F O R A L L U R B A N C O N S U M E R S :
Apparel and u p k e e p .............................................................................
Apparel com m o dities.........................................................................
Men’s and boys’ a p p a re l................................................................
W omen's and girls’ apparel ...........................................................
Infants’ and toddlers’ a p p a re l........................................................
F ootw ear............................................................................................
Other apparel com m odities............................................................
Apparel se rvice s..................................................................................
Transportation ........................................................................................
Private transportation.........................................................................
New ve h icle s.....................................................................................
New c a rs .........................................................................................
Used cars ..........................................................................................
Motor fuel ..........................................................................................
G a soline..........................................................................................
Maintenance and re p a ir..................................................................
Other private transportation...........................................................
Other private transportation commodities ................................
Other private transportation se rvice s........................................
Public tran sportation..........................................................................
111.1
103.7
104.1
99.2
77.6
105.7
117.9
105.2
102.2
108.2
108.5
111.0
108.1
107.5
113.8
117.0
114.1
111.8
120.1
107.1
103.6
111.5
112.5
112.5
112.5
112.5
110.9
113.4
108.9
105.4
117.4
111.2
113.3
108.8
105.9
118.3
111.3
110.3
107.4
111.3
112.9
115.5
112.8
112.4
119.0
125.8
121.7
122.8
122.5
122.5
122.0
110.2
112.5
107.2
101.4
95.3
77.9
101.5
119.1
106.5
103.3
110.1
109.8
110.6
106.2
104.3
106.1
103.9
108.9
108.9
109.1
110.4
111.8
112.1
101.9
101.7
115.1
105.1
108.0
119.6
102.3
105.4
104.2
114.4
114.6
113.1
80.2
80.1
114.8
108.8
77.1
77.0
110.3
115.1
96.3
118.8
117.0
112.1
335.9
110.6
105.9
104.2
106.2
104.0
101.2
110.6
110.6
111.6
334.4
110.8
110.7
109.0
109.8
112.6
115.9
112.9
110.7
108.0
108.5
113.3
116.1
113.3
112.8
113.2
119.6
126.4
127.1
120.2
121.8
122.0
125.0
123.0
123.0
127.1
123.6
123.6
122.4
110.3
122.2
110.7
113.4
107.1
101.5
95.2
77.5
101.5
119.3
106.8
103.6
110.9
109.9
105.5
118.1
109.7
108.1
108.0
109.6
114.3
104.5
106.1
118.6
103.1
103.3
101.8
120.1
110.6
112.8
107.2
101.3
94.7
77.5
110.5
110.8
110.2
111.2
110.0
111.1
108.5
108.0
113.4
116.4
113.6
107.8
106.8
113.7
116.8
114.0
108.4
105.9
114.1
117.2
114.4
114.3
114.7
121.3
129.3
123.0
132.8
124.4
124.4
124.5
113.2
116.8
108.4
105.0
100.4
77.1
107.6
120.5
107.2
103.6
111.7
113.6
120.5
127.3
122.3
127.1
124.0
124.1
123.0
127.9
122.3
129.1
124.2
124.2
123.6
110.2
111.1
112.3
107.5
113.7
107.8
104.9
102.2
111.1
96.1
77.1
102.5
119.8
107.1
103.5
111.7
110.3
110.6
111.5
111.1
100.8
119.7
107.2
104.0
120.8
100.8
77.2
108.1
119.4
107.1
103.5
111.9
110.5
110.8
120.8
121.2
107.3
103.8
111.5
110.9
107.5
103.9
107.4
103.6
112.3
111.2
111.2
115.4
114.0
115.4
114.0
112.5
117.7
116.7
108.0
110.7
114.1
105.8
105.9
118.6
113.1
106.5
105.8
119.3
105.6
107.6
119.5
104.7
103.5
113.8
114.0
113.4
79.1
79.0
114.3
119.7
96.7
124.2
105.4
104.3
114.1
114.3
114.7
80.8
80.7
114.4
120.3
96.7
125.0
96.3
125.7
120.6
120.2
120.2
106.5
105.4
114.0
114.4
115.5
84.3
84.3
115.1
120.7
96.8
125.5
121.5
129.2
129.9
129.0
127.9
130.1
129.9
130.8
129.6
128.8
130.6
130.7
131.6
130.4
129.5
132.0
101.8
102.0
96.9
125.6
113.5
113.5
106.9
76.0
75.9
113.3
118.9
96.4
123.4
113.1
113.1
108.7
76.6
76.4
113.3
119.1
96.7
123.5
121.1
120.6
121.1
130.1
131.0
130.0
128.8
131.6
127.4
127.4
127.4
125.8
128.6
128.1
128.5
128.0
126.6
129.1
128.7
129.0
128.7
127.5
129.7
120.8
115.5
123.2
129.4
124.8
127.7
127.1
127.2
125.8
121.1
109.5
109.9
120.0
115.6
122.5
129.8
124.4
130.5
126.0
126.0
125.5
112.7
116.3
107.8
105.5
110.2
111.4
108.0
105.0
115.1
118.6
115.4
77.6
108.2
111.2
106.0
104.9
114.4
114.7
115.4
82.2
82.1
114.5
110.6
111.6
107.4
106.7
114.7
118.3
115.2
116.4
108.1
103.2
96.9
78.5
103.3
130.1
123.8
133.3
125.4
125.4
125.1
112.9
116.5
108.2
105.9
101.4
77.8
108.7
109.2
110.1
111.6
107.8
105.8
114.6
118.0
114.9
115.5
123.4
129.2
124.8
126.7
127.4
127.5
125.9
113.5
116.9
108.9
102.4
95.5
80.3
101.4
121.3
107.4
103.6
112.4
112.8
110.0
107.3
105.3
107.8
104.2
107.7
103.4
108.2
115.4
122.2
109.3
107.6
109.0
107.6
104.2
103.0
113.5
113.6
111.3
78.5
78.4
114.3
119.4
96.0
124.0
120.9
120.8
121.8
109.4
107.6
108.3
108.4
109.0
104.2
109.3
119.8
101.0
111.8
111.0
113.3
111.8
110.6
115.3
112.1
112.8
112.0
118.3
116.2
107.3
110.7
105.7
110.3
119.9
120.8
106.6
105.4
113.8
114.1
116.0
84.0
84.0
115.7
107.1
106.0
115.0
115.2
116.2
83.2
83.1
116.1
121.1
122.8
111.0
110.6
107.4
126.4
111.3
107.3
124.7
110.0
111.0
112.2
111.8
112.2
107.7
104.8
115.0
118.9
115.4
108.5
106.9
115.9
119.3
115.8
109.5
107.7
116.1
119.7
116.8
115.6
123.7
129.1
125.6
124.1
128.0
128.0
126.2
113.3
116.6
109.1
116.2
124.6
130.8
126.0
129.4
128.5
128.6
126.9
113.7
117.4
108.7
102.4
95.6
80.8
101.5
121.3
107.5
103.5
113.1
111.5
116.6
125.0
131.3
126.3
130.4
129.0
129.0
127.1
114.3
117.9
109.5
102.0
95.1
80.5
100.9
120.9
107.3
103.3
112.5
111.4
112.7
111.0
110.7
112.6
110.4
108.6
109.0
108.2
113.6
106.1
112.9
102.8
96.0
80.9
101.9
121.8
107.7
103.7
113.2
111.6
110.2
108.3
109.1
107.8
111.4
105.8
113.1
121.1
114.5
107.2
111.3
121.4
121.6
122.0
107.6
106.5
116.4
116.6
116.3
82.0
81.8
116.9
123.8
97.5
129.2
107.1
106.0
116.1
116.2
116.0
79.7
79.5
117.2
124.7
98.2
130.1
106.8
105.7
116.0
116.2
116.0
78.3
78.1
117.7
125.0
98.1
130.6
97.6
125.8
98.0
127.8
107.8
106.8
116.3
116.6
116.5
83.2
83.1
116.5
123.8
97.6
129.2
122.1
121.2
122.0
122.1
121.8
120.8
131.2
132.2
131.0
130.0
133.0
131.7
132.7
131.5
130.7
133.3
132.3
133.5
132.0
131.2
134.2
132.8
134.2
132.5
131.5
135.4
133.1
134.9
132.7
131.8
135.9
134.4
135.4
134.1
133.2
137.6
135.5
136.1
135.3
134.5
139.0
115.6
117.4
Medical c a r e ...........................................................................................
Medical care com m o dities................................................................
Medical care se rvice s........................................................................
Professional s e rv ic e s ......................................................................
Hospital and related services ........................................................
123.1
E n tertainm ent.........................................................................................
Entertainment co m m o dities..............................................................
Entertainment se rvice s ......................................................................
107.9
116.8
115.3
110.5
113.5
108.8
113.9
109.6
114.5
109.9
114.8
110.3
110.6
112.2
112.6
120.1
121.0
121.2
122.0
122.5
116.1
110.7
123.5
111.2
120.0
114.9
110.3
121.4
115.4
110.7
122.0
124.5
124.3
124.3
118.1
112.9
125.4
118.3
112.9
125.7
Other goods and services ...................................................................
Tobacco products ..............................................................................
Personal c a re .......................................................................................
Toilet goods and personal care appliances................................
Personal care services ...................................................................
Personal and educational expenses................................................
School books and s upp lie s............................................................
Personal and educational s e rv ic e s ..............................................
121.4
124.7
111.9
111.3
112.5
128.6
128.1
128.7
128.5
133.6
115.1
113.9
116.2
138.5
138.1
138.7
126.1
130.8
113.9
112.9
114.7
135.6
135.9
135.8
126.3
131.3
113.9
112.9
114.8
135.8
136.0
136.0
126.6
131.6
114.2
113.2
115.1
136.1
136.2
136.3
126.9
131.8
114.9
113.7
116.0
136.3
136.4
136.5
127.2
132.4
114.9
113.7
116.1
136.7
136.5
136.8
128.0
135.0
115.3
114.3
116.2
136.9
136.5
137.2
128.5
135.3
115.6
114.3
116.8
137.7
136.7
137.9
131.1
135.9
116.0
114.7
117.2
142.1
141.3
142.3
131.6
136.3
116.2
114.9
117.4
142.8
142.3
143.1
131.8
136.5
116.3
115.0
117.5
143.1
142.3
143.4
132.1
137.0
116.5
115.0
117.9
143.4
142.4
143.6
133.4
140.8
117.3
116.1
118.4
143.9
144.6
144.0
134.2
142.2
117.8
116.4
119.1
144.7
146.3
144.8
See footnotes at end of table.
98
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
122.0
122.8
121.9
120.8
111.6
116.9
117.3
30. Continued— Consumer Price Indexes for All Urban Consumers and for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers: U.S. city
average, by expenditure category and commodity or service group
(1982-84=100, unless otherwise indicated)
1988
1987
Annual
Series
1986
1987
All items .....................................................................................................
C om m odities...........................................................................................
Food and beverages...........................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages..........................................
Nondurables less food and beverages .......................................
Apparel com m odities....................................................................
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel ....................
D urables.............................................................................................
109.6
104.4
109.1
101.4
97.8
104.2
95.9
106.6
113.6
107.7
113.5
104.0
S e rvices...................................................................................................
Rent of shelter ( 1 2 / 8 2 - 1 0 0 ) ...........................................................
Household services less rent of’ shelter ( 1 2 / 8 2 - 1 0 0 ) ..............
Transportation s e rv ic e s .....................................................................
Medical care se rvice s........................................................................
Other services .....................................................................................
115.4
120.2
120.2
112.8
125.9
113.1
121.9
130.0
125.7
Special indexes:
All items less food ..............................................................................
All items less shelter .........................................................................
All items less homeowners’ costs ( 1 2 /8 2 = 1 0 0 )..........................
All items less medical c a r e ...............................................................
Commodities less fo o d ......................................................................
Nondurables less food ......................................................................
Nondurables less food and apparel ................................................
N ondurables.........................................................................................
Services less rent o f shelter (12/82 = 1 0 0 )..................................
Services less medical c a r e ...............................................................
E nergy...................................................................................................
All items less e n e rg y .........................................................................
All items less food and energy ........................................................
Commodities less food and e n e rg y ................................................
Energy commodities ..........................................................................
Services less ene rgy..........................................................................
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar:
1 9 8 2 -8 4 -$ 1 .0 0 ...................................................................................
1967 —$ 1 .0 0 .........................................................................................
116.3
121.9
119.4
109.8
108.0
101.1
108.9
99.5
108.2
113.6
111.6
111.2
115.1
108.8
101.7
98.5
96.9
103.5
118.7
114.6
112.6
88.2
112.6
113.5
108.6
77.2
116.5
104.3
101.8
100.3
107.5
123.1
119.1
88.6
117.2
118.2
111.8
80.2
122.0
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
112.7
107.2
98.3
107.7
113.1
107.5
113.3
103.7
100.9
109.5
98.7
107.9
111.6
112.1
105.8
112.5
106.4
112.5
101.6
102.6
97.9
104.3
96.8
107.0
99.4
108.1
97.3
107.2
118.1
123.6
111.5
120.3
127.4
123.4
118.5
124.1
111.5
120.4
128.0
123.7
118.9
124.8
111.4
120.9
128.7
124.1
119.3
125.1
112.3
120.9
129.0
124.4
111.4
109.7
113.1
112.0
110.2
112.7
113.0
110.8
111.1
113.6
110.6
102.0
111.1
114.2
111.7
103.9
101.3
99.1
106.9
104.0
101.4
99.5
107.2
98.6
97.7
105.3
102.9
100.1
117.0
85.6
115.3
116.1
109.6
76.4
119.9
98.2
106.1
121.3
117.4
85.8
115.8
116.8
110.7
76.9
120.3
121.1
112.8
103.6
100.7
110.0
110.5
329.0
111.0
111.6
330.5
332.3
Food and be ve ra g e s.............................................................................
F o o d ......................................................................................................
Food at home ...................................................................................
Cereals and bakery p ro d u cts......................................................
Meats, poultry, fish, and e g g s .....................................................
Dairy p ro d u c ts ................................................................................
Fruits and vegetables...................................................................
Other foods at h o m e ....................................................................
Sugar and s w e e ts ......................................................................
Fats and o ils ................................................................................
Nonalcoholic beverages............................................................
Other prepared fo o d s ................................................................
Food away from home ...................................................................
Alcoholic beverages...........................................................................
108.9
108.8
107.1
110.9
104.4
103.2
109.4
109.1
109.0
106.4
113.3
113.3
111.7
114.8
110.4
105.7
118.8
110.4
110.9
107.9
107.5
113.6
116.9
113.9
112.3
112.3
110.9
113.3
108.7
105.8
117.7
112.3
112.3
110.7
113.4
108.7
105.3
116.9
110.7
110.5
108.8
109.7
112.4
115.8
112.9
112.6
Housing ...................................................................................................
S h e lte r..................................................................................................
Renters’ costs (12/84 = 1 0 0 )........................................................
Rent, reside ntial............................................................................
Other renters’ costs .....................................................................
Homeowners’ costs (12/84 = 1 0 0 )................................................
Owners’ equivalent rent ( 1 2 / 8 4 - 1 0 0 ) .....................................
Household insurance (1 2 /8 4 —1 0 0 )..........................................
Maintenance and re p a irs................................................................
Maintenance and repair s e rv ic e s ...............................................
Maintenance and repair com m odities.......................................
Fuel and other u tilitie s .......................................................................
Fuels ..................................................................................................
Fuel oil, coal, and bottled g a s ....................................................
Gas (piped) and electricity ..........................................................
Other utilities and public s e rv ic e s .................................................
Household furnishings and ope ratio ns...........................................
Housefurnishings..............................................................................
Housekeeping supp lie s...................................................................
Housekeeping services...................................................................
109.7
113.5
109.5
118.2
119.1
108.8
108.8
109.4
107.7
110.5
103.1
103.9
99.2
77.8
105.7
117.7
105.0
101.9
108.5
109.1
112.8
111.0
118.8
114.6
122.9
128.2
113.8
113.7
114.1
111.3
114.7
106.0
102.7
97.1
77.6
103.6
116.6
112.7
121.5
122.4
Apparel and u p k e e p ..............................................................................
105.8
115.7
109.2
115.7
105.1
111.0
108.6
116.0
109.1
115.8
105.0
101.9
108.3
101.8
101.2
101.0
109.6
101.5
109.5
109.4
109.4
121.7
127.2
115.5
122.5
131.5
127.9
121.9
128.0
113.5
123.4
132.0
128.7
122.0
122.2
128.1
128.5
112.3
124.6
132.7
129.0
122.9
129.4
112.7
125.1
134.1
129.6
123.4
129.8
113.1
125.2
135.3
130.2
115.1
113.0
116.5
113.9
105.7
104.0
115.5
113.2
116.6
114.2
106.3
104.6
115.5
113.2
116.6
114.3
106.0
103.7
115.7
113.3
116.9
114.6
105.5
102.2
102.1
102.1
101.9
109.1
125.3
121.7
87.4
119.7
116.0
113.5
117.1
114.8
105.4
102.7
101.9
109.0
125.8
102.0
107.6
101.5
108.3
111.8
101.6
120.1
120.5
126.0
115.1
121.7
130.4
125.1
121.2
113.8
114.5
112.3
115.9
113.3
104.9
88.0
125.4
114.8
121.3
129.6
124.7
126.9
115.8
122.0
131.0
125.6
115.0
108.9
114.2
105.5
103.5
112.6
124.5
132.5
128.8
107.3
123.7
119.4
91.1
117.1
118.0
108.1
124.2
109.0
124.9
109.4
124.6
115.7
113.3
116.8
114.4
106.7
104.8
102.4
109.5
124.6
120.1
120.6
120.8
120.8
121.0
92.7
117.6
118.6
89.8
118.9
111.2
111.8
81.8
122.0
83.8
122.7
92.3
118.3
119.4
112.9
83.5
123.2
113.7
82.9
123.9
89.0
119.2
120.5
114.1
83.1
124.2
88.3
119.2
120.4
113.5
82.0
124.4
29.4
87.8
29.3
87.3
29.2
86.9
29.0
86.7
29.0
86.5
28.9
111.9
333.4
112.4
334.9
112.7
335.6
113.3
337.4
113.8
339.1
114.1
340.0
113.1
113.1
111.7
114.5
109.5
105.6
113.6
113.6
112.3
114.8
110.4
105.3
123.9
113.5
113.5
111.9
115.2
111.3
105.1
119.6
109.9
113.6
113.6
111.9
115.3
114.0
114.0
114.1
114.1
112.2
112.2
88.4
29.5
112.5
335.0
115.4
109.3
114.8
105.7
103.1
100.6
88.6
108.6
323.4
115.4
109.5
114.3
106.5
104.3
114.0
108.3
115.3
109.3
114.3
106.1
104.2
114.0
101.5
108.8
105.3
100.5
108.4
121.2
All items ..................................................................................................
All items (1 9 6 7 -1 0 0 ) ...........................................................................
CONSUMER
Feb.
114.4
108.2
113.8
104.6
118.2
87.4
116.7
117.6
111.7
79.1
29.6
Jan.
113.8
107.6
113.7
103.8
122.1
89.1
29.8
Dec.
113.5
107.7
113.8
103.8
100.7
107.6
99.6
108.2
121.6
89.5
29.9
Nov.
Aug.
117.8
86.4
116.4
117.4
111.5
78.5
120.9
29.4
Oct.
Sept.
July
113.5
111.7
115.1
112.5
104.1
101.4
100.3
107.4
123.2
119.0
90.7
116.9
117.7
111.4
80.6
121.4
91.3
30.5
88.0
June
114.6
112.1
111.8
115.3
112.7
104.1
101.3
101.1
102.6
102.0
120.1
109.1
124.6
102.1
102.8
122.1
87.0
120.8
120.0
121.1
113.2
80.0
125.2
113.3
78.8
125.7
86.4
28.8
86.2
28.9
114.3
340.4
114.2
340.2
114.5
341.0
114.7
341.6
114.1
114.0
111.9
116.2
114.5
114.5
112.5
116.9
115.4
115.4
113.7
118.1
115.5
115.4
113.5
118.8
110.5
107.0
124.0
111.7
86.6
28.8
P R IC E IN D E X F O R U R B A N W A G E E A R N E R S
A N D C L E R IC A L W O R K E R S :
110.0
109.0
112.5
111.1
111.0
110.1
107.3
111.0
112.6
115.5
112.8
111.6
111.5
111.4
117.1
113.3
121.7
125.6
112.1
112.1
109.9
112.4
105.4
112.4
110.3
113.5
105.2
101.1
95.1
77.7
101.3
119.0
106.2
112.1
121.1
110.4
110.7
108.3
108.1
113.2
116.2
113.5
110.1
111.1
111.0
107.6
106.8
113.5
116.7
113.9
108.2
105.9
113.9
117.0
114.2
111.8
112.2
117.7
113.8
121.9
128.3
112.7
112.7
112.5
118.1
114.0
112.9
118.2
114.2
113.2
118.8
115.3
122.1
122.2
122.8
128.6
113.1
113.1
113.1
129.7
113.2
113.2
113.8
133.6
113.4
113.4
114.6
110.2
110.2
111.0
112.6
112.5
106.0
101.2
101.0
101.8
116.9
106.3
104.7
94.4
77.3
95.8
76.8
100.6
102.2
119.6
106.9
103.4
111.5
110.7
119.7
106.7
103.0
113.9
106.3
104.6
100.7
77.0
108.0
119.4
106.7
102.9
112.0
112.1
110.9
110.9
112.1
111.1
111.4
110.9
109.1
107.1
111.8
102.8
110.6
110.9
110.3
110.4
106.0
109.5
106.7
103.1
114.3
108.5
105.1
119.5
110.4
110.5
107.9
108.4
113.1
116.0
113.2
113.2
105.2
95.0
77.3
101.3
119.3
106.5
103.1
111.3
110.4
120.1
112.5
111.0
100.2
76.9
107.4
120.4
106.8
103.1
111.8
105.5
117.3
110.3
111.3
108.1
106.0
114.6
117.4
114.4
114.0
119.6
116.0
123.6
134.2
114.3
114.3
115.1
112.4
116.6
106.2
105.6
101.3
77.5
108.6
121.0
106.9
103.3
111.9
115.4
112.7
106.2
117.1
110.2
111.5
107.6
106.0
114.4
117.9
114.6
114.1
115.7
112.0
111.2
110.1
110.8
106.7
117.5
110.5
106.7
117.4
106.4
123.0
109.8
110.9
107.6
104.9
114.8
118.8
115.1
107.1
125.7
111.3
112.1
112.1
108.4
107.2
115.7
119.1
115.6
109.5
107.9
115.8
119.6
116.6
114.1
114.6
121.9
116.9
125.7
129.2
117.1
117.1
116.7
113.0
117.1
106.9
95.2
80.4
115.0
122.4
117.3
126.1
130.0
117.6
117.6
116.7
113.6
117.6
107.5
102.5
95.6
80.6
101.2
121.2
101.6
121.8
107.2
103.1
113.6
110.0
111.6
110.1
111.2
107.3
106.9
114.5
118.2
114.9
107.9
105.2
114.9
118.5
115.2
114.0
120.7
116.0
124.5
129.3
115.9
115.9
115.8
112.1
112.2
116.4
105.8
105.2
116.0
106.3
113.9
120.9
115.9
124.6
128.1
116.2
116.2
115.9
112.7
116.5
106.9
102.8
102.0
100.8
96.5
78.2
103.0
95.1
80.1
120.0
116.2
124.2
132.2
114.8
114.8
115.5
77.3
108.1
120.7
107.1
103.4
121.1
111.2
111.3
107.0
103.1
112.7
111.4
109.1
112.9
115.2
112.2
121.2
112.8
115.9
125.3
124.5
116.6
116.6
116.1
112.5
115.9
107.1
101.7
94.8
80.2
100.7
120.9
106.9
102.9
112.9
111.4
111.6
107.1
103.0
113.5
111.7
115.2
112.6
110.3
101.1
121.2
107.0
103.1
102.0
111.8
See footnotes at end of table.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
99
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
30. Continued— Consumer Price indexes for All Urban Consumers and for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers: U.S. city
average, by expenditure category and commodity or service group
(1982-84=100, unless otherwise indicated)
Series
Apparel com m o dities.........................................................................
Men’s and boys’ a p p a re l................................................................
Women's and girls' apparel ...........................................................
Infants’ and toddlers' a p p a re l........................................................
F oo tw ear............................................................................................
Other apparel com m odities............................................................
Apparel se rvice s.................................................................................
Transportation ........................................................................................
Private transportation.........................................................................
New ve h icle s ....................................................................................
New c a rs .........................................................................................
Used cars ..........................................................................................
Motor fuel ..........................................................................................
G a soline..........................................................................................
Maintenance and re p a ir..................................................................
Other private tran sportation...........................................................
Other private transportation com m o dities................................
Other private transportation services........................................
Public tran sportation..........................................................................
Annual
average
1987
1986
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
104.2
105.9
103.8
113.5
108.8
108.5
110.3
114.0
105.5
107.4
119.2
104.2
105.4
103.7
107.9
107.0
109.4
116.2
105.0
105.6
118.4
109.9
108.3
113.0
115.9
106.1
105.5
118.4
109.4
109.0
111.4
115.3
106.7
105.1
118.9
107.4
108.2
107.7
111.7
105.8
107.0
119.1
105.3
106.9
104.4
109.7
103.9
107.3
119.5
107.4
107.7
108.2
104.7
108.2
119.3
105.1
104.1
114.0
114.3
113.1
80.3
80.2
115.1
119.0
96.7
123.4
120.4
102.5
101.5
113.2
113.2
106.9
76.1
76.0
113.7
117.3
96.4
121.3
119.8
102.8
101.8
103.8
112.9
113.2
113.3
111.3
78.5
78.5
114.6
117.5
95.7
104.4
103.4
113.5
113.7
113.4
79.2
79.1
114.6
117.8
96.4
105.1
104.3
113.7
114.0
114.7
80.9
80.8
114.7
118.5
96.6
121.8
122.0
122.8
120.2
120.3
120.3
130.2
130.2
130.3
129.0
131.1
127.3
126.8
127.4
125.8
128.1
128.1
127.7
128.1
126.7
128.5
128.8
128.2
128.9
127.6
129.1
129.3
129.1
129.3
128.1
129.5
110.0
120.8
114.4
110.5
114.5
110.5
115.0
110.9
121.1
121.2
121.8
125.9
131.7
114.1
113.1
115.0
135.9
136.2
136.1
126.2
131.8
114.7
113.6
115.9
136.1
136.3
136.3
126.6
132.5
114.8
113.6
116.0
136.4
136.4
136.7
102.1
101.6
115.0
101.7
100.9
110.4
110.4
108.8
77.1
76.9
110.6
113.8
96.3
117.1
116.8
111.0
102.4
104.6
118.0
112.8
108.7
76.6
76.5
113.7
117.4
96.5
121.4
102.8
Medical c a r e ...........................................................................................
Medical care com m o dities................................................................
Medical care se rvice s........................................................................
Professional s e rv ic e s ......................................................................
Hospital and related services ........................................................
122.6
E n tertainm ent.........................................................................................
Entertainment commodities ..............................................................
Entertainment se rvice s......................................................................
111.0
114.8
107.8
116.5
110.6
121.8
113.0
109.0
119.7
113.4
109.6
119.8
120.9
124.8
111.9
127.8
133.7
115.0
113.9
116.1
138.2
137.9
138.4
125.4
131.0
113.9
113.0
114.8
135.3
135.9
135.5
125.6
131.4
113.8
114.8
135.5
136.0
135.7
112.5
107.3
113.3
103.6
110.5
105.3
112.3
111.0
111.6
105.9
112.3
112.6
101.0
102.0
103.0
100.8
97.4
104.2
96.4
105.1
98.9
107.9
96.8
105.4
109.9
97.9
106.0
111.9
107.0
113.1
103.3
100.4
109.4
98.4
106.4
117.3
111.9
102.5
119.1
127.4
122.5
117.7
112.5
102.5
119.2
128.1
122.7
118.1
113.0
102.4
119.7
128.9
123.2
118.5
113.4
103.2
119.8
129.3
123.5
Other goods and services ...................................................................
Tobacco products ..............................................................................
Personal c a re .......................................................................................
Toilet goods and personal care appliances................................
Personal care s e rv ic e s ...................................................................
Personal and educational expenses...............................................
School books and supp lie s..........................................................
Personal and educational s e rv ic e s ..............................................
All ite m s ...................................................................................
Com m odities......................................................
Food and beverages .....................................................................
Commodities less food and beverages..........................................
Nondurables less food and beverages .......................................
Apparel com m odities.......................................................
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel ................
Durables.............................................................................
S e rvices........................................................................
Rent of shelter (1 2 /8 4 —1 0 0 )...................................................
Household services less rent of shelter (12/84 = 1 0 0 )...............
Transportation se rvice s .....................................................
Medical care se rvice s..........................................................
Other services ......................................................
122.0
122.2
122.0
120.9
111.2
112.6
128.5
127.8
128.6
108.6
103.9
108.9
100.8
97.3
104.2
95.3
104.9
108.8
99.2
106.6
114.7
109.0
103.9
115.4
119.4
114.0
104.0
122.0
118.7
130.3
124.7
108.5
107.4
112.2
111.0
102.8
106.4
111.5
103.9
101.4
Special indexes:
All items less food ......................................................
All items less s h e lte r...........................................................
All items less homeowners’ costs ( 1 2 /8 4 - 1 0 0 ) ........................
All items less medical c a r e ....................................................
Commodities less fo o d ................................................................
Nondurables less food .................................................................
Nondurables less food and apparel ................................................
N ondurables.....................................................................
Services less rent of shelter ( 1 2 /8 4 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................
Services less medical c a r e ...............................................................
E nergy..............................................................................................
All items less energy ..................................................................
All items less food and energy ........................................................
Commodities less food and e n e rg y .................................................
Energy commodities ..........................................................................
Services less ene rgy..........................................................................
98.0
96.4
103.3
107.1
113.9
87.4
111.5
112.3
107.6
77.2
115.8
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar:
1 9 8 2 -8 4 = $ 1 .0 0 ...................................................................................
1967 —$ 1 .0 0 ...................................................................................
92.0
30.9
Digitized for 100
FRASER
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1988
107.8
101.2
120.8
112.8
114.0
106.7
100.2
110.0
110.6
111.3
111.6
109.5
104.9
110.1
105.5
110.5
105.9
110.0
110.6
102.3
99.6
97.8
105.8
109.2
116.5
85.1
114.7
115.3
109.6
76.9
119.6
103.3
103.6
100.8
101.0
98.7
106.6
109.5
116.9
85.8
115.3
116.0
110.5
78.6
99.2
106.9
109.9
117.4
121.2
109.0
104.5
109.5
101.4
98.2
97.4
105.1
109.0
116.2
84.9
114.1
114.7
108.5
76.5
119.1
89.0
29.9
90.5
30.4
90.1
30.3
100.0
107.2
110.8
118.2
88.0
116.0
116.8
110.8
80.3
Oct.
Nov.
111.5
109.8
115.2
113.9
106.0
109.8
119.4
113.9
111.5
118.2
118.6
107.9
110.4
120.3
112.0
110.4
117.6
118.7
108.6
110.5
120.7
112.6
106.3 106.4
105.5 105.5
113.5 113.3
114.0 113.8
115.5 115.9
84.5
84.1
84.4
84.1
115.4 k 11.6.0
118.7 119.1
96.7
97.3
123.1
123.4
120.8
121.4
106.9
106.1
114.5
114.9
116.1
83.3
83.2
116.3
107.6
106.7
115.9
116.2
116.4
83.3
83.2
116.7
107.3
106.4
116.1
116.3
116.2
82.0
81.9
117.0
121.0
122.0
122.0
97.7
125.8
120.7
97.2
127.1
119.7
105.8
104.9
113.9
114.4
115.4
82.3
82.2
114.9
118.9
96.3
123.4
119.7
121.2
97.4
127.1
121.3
130.0
130.1
130.0
128.9
130.0
130.8
130.9
130.8
129.6
131.4
131.4
131.3
131.4
130.2
132.4
132.0
131.9
132.0
130.9
132.8
132.6
132.6
132.6
131.4
133.7
133.0
133.4
133.0
131.7
134.9
133.4
134.1
133.2
132.0
135.4
115.1
110.8
122.2
115.6
110.9
123.2
116.3
111.3
124.3
112.2
112.6
112.8
124.1
124.0
127.5
135.1
115.1
114.1
116.2
136.7
136.4
137.0
128.0
135.4
115.4
114.3
116.7
137.4
136.6
137.7
130.3
136.0
115.8
114.6
117.1
141.8
140.7
142.1
130.8
136.5
116.1
115.0
117.3
142.4
141.8
142.7
131.0
136.7
116.2
115.0
117.4
142.8
141.8
143.1
112.4
107.3
113.6
103.4
100.4
107.4
99.3
106.6
112.7
107.3
113.5
103.5
100.4
105.3
100.3
106.9
113.3
107.9
113.6
104.3
113.8
108.5
114.0
105.1
103.1
111.5
101.5
106.9
114.1
108.9
114.1
105.7
103.8
113.9
101.3
107.4
114.3
109.1
114.1
106.0
104.0
113.9
119.3
113.5
105.7
119.7
114.0
105.9
120.2
120.6
130.0
123.7
130.8
124.1
112.4
110.6
101.8
107.4
101.4
106.8
120.4
114.9
106.6
120.7
131.4
124.6
113.1
112.1
111.1
111.2
111.8
106.4
111.5
103.7
106.6
111.7
103.8
101.0
100.0
101.1
101.0
107.2
120.1
115.6
116.3
110.7
79.2
120.4
118.1
90.1
115.7
116.3
110.5
80.7
107.2
111.5
118.5
90.5
115.9
116.6
110.3
82.0
107.1
112.3
104.6
102.4
101.9
107.9
120.6
121.1
121.8
89.6
30.1
89.3
30.0
88.9
29.9
88.7
29.8
29.6
111.0
86.8
Sept.
111.1
120.9
115.2
106.3
121.2
132.0
126.9
113.7
112.4
107.7
112.9
105.4
103.6
102.0
119.2
92.2
116.4
117.2
108.8
112.5
119.7
91.8
117.1
117.9
110.8
111.8
84.1
112.0
88.2
113.9
116.7
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
111.1
108.6
108.6
108.2
115.2
106.8
108.3
108.7
107.9
113.3
106.4
112.2
121.1
112.0
106.8
105.9
115.8
115.9
115.9
79.7
79.5
117.4
122.9
98.1
128.0
116.4
108.0
110.6
120.9
121.2
106.4
105.6
115.7
116.0
116.0
78.3
78.1
117.8
123.2
98.0
128.5
120.4
134.6
134.7
134.6
133.4
136.9
135.8
135.4
135.8
134.7
138.4
117.4
124.9
117.6
112.9
125.2
131.3
137.2
116.4
115.1
117.8
143.0
141.9
143.3
132.7
141.0
117.1
116.0
118.3
143.4
143.9
143.6
133.6
142.3
117.5
116.2
118.9
144.3
145.3
144.5
114.2
108.9
114.5
105.4
114.5
108.8
115.4
104.7
101.7
108.6
114.7
108.7
115.5
104.5
101.4
108.3
100.5
107.9
116.9
101.6
102.8
111.1
101.2
100.8
108.0
108.0
107.9
117.1
103.5
124.1
134.6
128.5
121.1
121.2
115.9
104.2
122.5
132.6
127.7
116.1
103.4
123.5
133.0
127.8
121.3
116.4
103.1
123.6
133.2
127.9
114.0
114.3
112.7
108.0
113.3
106.3
104.4
114.1
112.5
107.8
113.2
105.6
103.3
112.6
107.8
113.1
105.9
104.2
101.9
109.2
121.5
122.0
122.5
117.5
103.9
124.4
135.8
129.0
102.2
101.8
109.2
108.8
114.2
112.7
108.0
113.4
105.0
102.4
101.5
108.8
112.2
120.1
120.7
121.1
86.8
118.5
119.3
112.3
80.0
124.3
86.3
118.7
119.6
112.4
78.7
124.8
87.3
29.3
87.2
29.3
112.2
112.2
119.9
83.8
122.4
119.9
89.3
117.7
118.7
112.7
83.0
123.1
118.0
119.1
113.1
83.2
123.4
87.8
29.5
87.6
29.4
87.4
29.4
88.6
87.8
118.0
119.0
112.6
82.1
123.7
87.5
29.41
112.8
114.4
112.8
108.1
113.6
104.9
102.2
101.4
108.7
113.2
31.
Consumer Price Index: U.S. city average and available local area data: ail items
(1 9 8 2 -8 4 = 1 0 0 , u nless o th e rw ise indicated)
Urban Wage Earners
All Urban Consumers
Area 1
U.S. city a verage.....................
R egion and area size 3
Northeast u rb a n ........................
Size A - More than
1 ,200 ,00 0 ................................
Size B - 500,000 to
1 ,200 ,00 0 ................................
Size C - 50,000 to
500,000 ...................................
North Central urban ................
Size A - More than
1 ,2 00,000 ................................
Size B - 360,000 to
1 ,200 ,00 0 ................................
Size C - 50,000 to
360,000 ...................................
Size D - Nonmetro
politan (less
than 50,0000 ..........................
South u rb a n ...............................
Size A - More than
1 ,200 ,00 0 ................................
Size B - 450,000 to
1 ,200 ,00 0 ................................
Size C - 50,000 to
450,000 ...................................
Size D - Nonmetro
politan (less
than 50,000) ...........................
West u rb a n ................................
Size A - More than
1,250,000 ................................
Size B - 330,000 to
1,250,000 ................................
Size C - 50,000 to
330,000 ...................................
Size classes:
A ...............................................
B ...............................................
C ..............................................
D ..............................................
Pricing
sche
dule 2
M
M
Other
index
base
-
1988
1987
1988
1987
Feb.
Mar.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Feb.
Mar.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
111.6
112.1
115.3
115.4
115.4
115.7
116.0
110.5
111.0
114.1
114.3
114.2
114.5
114.7
113.6
114.2
118.1
118.3
118.3
118.9
119.2
112.7
113.3
117.1
117.4
117.4
117.9
118.1
M
-
114.4
114.9
119.2
119.3
119.4
120.0
119.9
112.7
113.2
117.6
117.7
117.8
118.1
118.0
M
-
111.3
112.4
115.4
116.1
115.6
116.2
117.0
110.4
111.4
114.3
115.0
114.5
115.1
116.0
M
M
-
112.9
109.7
113.7
110.3
115.9
113.5
116.0
113.5
116.2
113.3
117.1
113.4
117.2
113.7
115.3
107.8
116.1
108.4
118.6
111.6
118.6
111.7
118.8
111.4
119.6
111.5
119.8
“
M
-
110.5
111.0
114.2
114.4
113.9
114.1
114.7
108.0
108.5
111.7
111.8
111.4
111.6
112.1
M
-
109.6
110.0
113.0
113.0
113.0
113.3
113.5
107.2
107.5
110.7
110.7
110.7
110.9
111.1
M
-
109.0
110.1
113.9
113.9
113.6
113.4
113.4
108.1
109.1
112.8
112.8
112.6
112.4
112.3
M
M
107.9
110.7
108.5
110.5
114.1
110.9
114.0
110.1
108.0
110.5
110.4
113.4
110.5
113.6
110.7
113.5
110.4
113.6
110.2
114.1
110.5
114.4
107.5
111.1
110.5
113.8
110.6
“
M
-
111.2
111.8
114.8
115.2
114.9
114.9
115.2
110.3
110.9
114.1
114.4
114.2
114.1
114.4
M
-
111.3
111.7
114.4
114.5
114.5
114.8
115.1
109.5
109.9
112.6
112.7
112.7
112.9
113.0
M
-
110.3
110.5
112.8
113.1
112.8
113.3
113.4
110.6
110.8
113.3
113.5
113.3
113.6
113.8
109.2
109.5
113.0
112.2
112.6
112.6
112.8
115.9
116.0
116.2
116.7
112.7
116.9
109.9
111.5
110.2
112.6
111.9
113.0
114.8
113.4
114.8
113.3
115.0
113.5
115.5
113.4
115.6
117.1
117.0
117.2
117.9
118.2
111.3
111.8
114.6
114.5
114.8
115.3
115.6
M
M
111.8
113.8
M
-
113.6
114.1
M
-
111.0
111.5
115.0
114.8
115.0
115.8
115.6
111.2
111.7
115.2
115.0
115.2
116.0
115.7
112.7
112.9
115.1
115.9
116.0
116.0
115.9
112.0
112.3
114.5
115.3
115.4
115.3
115.3
12/86
101.1
101.6
110.9
110.9
109.4
111.5
111.4
109.7
104.6
114.4
114.1
112.3
104.8
114.6
114.3
105.0
115.0
114.5
112.9
105.3
115.2
114.6
113.1
100.6
110.1
109.6
111.7
109.9
104.7
113.1
114.4
112.6
104.7
114.5
114.2
112.7
100.1
-
112.6
104.8
113.3
114.7
113.0
104.7
113.2
114.6
113.1
105.0
113.6
114.8
113.2
105.2
113.8
114.9
113.4
112.9
M
M
M
M
M
109.6
111.1
S e le c t e d lo c a l a r e a s
Chicago, ILNorthwestern IN ......................
Los Angeles-Long
Beach, Anaheim, C A ............
New York, NYNortheastern N J ......................
Philadelphia, P A -N J..................
San FranciscoOakland, C A .............................
M
111.9
112.3
115.1
115.7
115.7
115.3
116.6
108.6
109.0
111.7
112.2
112.2
111.9
M
114.7
115.5
118.6
118.2
118.5
118.9
119.7
112.1
112.8
115.8
115.4
115.7
115.9
116.6
119.6
119.3
119.3
119.0
M
M
M
Baltimore, M D ...........................
Boston, MA ...............................
Cleveland, O H ...........................
Miami, F L ...................................
St. Louis, M O -IL ........................
Washington, DC-MD-VA .........
1
1
1
1
1
1
Dallas-Ft. Worth, T X ................
Detroit, M l ..................................
Houston, TX ..............................
Pittsburgh, PA ...........................
2
2
2
2
-
115.3
113.9
115.8
114.0
119.1
120.5
118.6
118.9
121.3
119.3
119.3
113.8
113.6
114.4
113.8
118.8
119.0
119.1
118.6
119.1
119.0
113.7
117.1
117.3
117.4
118.4
117.9
112.4
112.8
116.0
116.2
116.4
117.5
117.0
_
116.8
_
-
-
111.8
-
-
-
-
113.6
-
116.2
110.2
115.3
119.9
109.9
113.1
112.7
117.9
114.0
113.7
108.0
113.3
110.6
_
-
-
113.8
109.8
107.4
108.6
-
113.4
_
_
-
-
-
-
112.3
115.9
111.4
110.7
110.7
114.5
_
110.9
_
-
110.2
-
-
104.4
109.8
-
-
120.2
_
114.9
114.1
108.0
115.7
119.9
114.5
113.8
113.1
118.5
-
113.9
114.5
113.4
118.3
_
113.9
-
-
112.6
-
-
107.3
113.0
-
112.8
1 A re a is th e C onso lid a ted M e tro po lita n S ta tistica l A re a (C M SA), e xclu
sive o f farm s and military. A re a d e fin itio n s a re th o se e sta b lish ed by th e O f
fice o f M a n ag em en t a nd B ud g et in 1983, e xce p t fo r B osto n-La w re n ce-S a lem, M A -N H A rea (e xclu de s M o n roe County); and M ilw aukee, W l A re a (in
clu de s o nly th e M ilw a uke e MSA). D e finition s do n ot inclu de revisions m ade
sin ce 1983.
2 Foods, fuels, and several o th e r ite m s priced every m o n th in all areas;
m o st o th e r g oo d s and se rvice s priced as indicated:.
M - Every m onth.
1 - January, M arch, May, July, S ep tem be r, and N ovem ber.
2 - February, A pril, June, A ugust, O ctob er, and D ecem ber.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
120.6
120.1
121.1
107.5
104.3
105.7
115.8
106.7
109.9
~
-
114.7
111.3
108.1
108.3
~
120.2
109.3
113.8
113.0
117.6
-
-
"
113.8
110.9
108.1
108.9
3 R egions are d efin ed as the fo u r C e nsus regions.
- D ata n ot available.
NO TE: Local area CPI in dexes are byprod ucts o f the natio na l CPI pro
gram . B ecause e ach lo cal index is a sm all su bse t of th e national index, it
h as a sm a lle r sam ple size and is, th e re fore, su bje ct to substa ntia lly m ore
sam pling and o th e r m ea sure m e n t e rro r tha n th e national in dex. A s a result,
lo cal area indexes sh ow g re ate r v o la tility tha n th e national index, although
th e ir long-term tre nd s are quite sim ilar. Th erefo re , th e Bureau o f Labor S ta
tistics stro ng ly urges users to co nsid e r ado ptin g th e national average CPI
fo r use in e sca la to r clauses.
I
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
32. Annual data: Consumer Price Index, U.S. city average, all items and major groups
(1982-84=100)
Series
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers:
All items:
In d e x ......................................................................
Percent ch a n g e .... ...............................................................
Food and beverages:
In d e x .....................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ....................................................................
Housing:
In d e x .......................................................................................
Percent c h a n g e ....................................................................
Apparel and upkeep:
In d e x ..................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ....................................................................
Transportation:
In d e x .......................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ....................................................................
Medical care:
In d e x .......................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ....................................................................
Entertainment:
In d e x .......................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ....................................................................
Other goods and services:
In d e x .......................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ....................................................................
Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers:
All Items:
In d e x .......................................................................................
Percent ch a n g e ....................................................................
102
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
72.6
11.3
82.4
13.5
90.9
10.3
96.5
6.2
99.6
3.2
103.9
4.3
107.6
3.6
109.6
1.9
113.6
3.6
79.9
10.7
86.7
8.5
93.5
7.8
97.3
4.1
99.5
2.3
103.2
3.7
105.6
2.3
109.1
3.3
113.5
4.0
70.1
12.3
81.1
15.7
90.4
11.5
96.9
7.2
99.5
2.7
103.6
4.1
107.7
4.0
110.9
3.0
114.2
3.0
84.9
4.3
90.9
7.1
95.3
4.8
97.8
100.2
102.1
105.0
2.5
1.9
2.8
105.9
.9
110.6
2.6
70.5
14.3
83.1
17.9
93.2
97.0
4.1
99.3
2.4
103.7
4.4
106.4
102.3
-3.9
105.4
3.0
67.5
9.2
74.9
92.5
100.6
8.8
106.8
130.1
6.2
113.5
6.3
122.0
11.0
82.9
10.7
7.5
6.6
76.7
6.7
83.6
9.0
90.1
7.8
96.0
6.5
100.1
103.8
3.7
107.9
3.9
111.6
4.3
115.3
3.3
68.9
7.2
75.2
9.1
82.6
9.8
91.1
10.3
101.1
11.0
107.9
6.7
114.5
121.4
6.1
6.0
73.1
11.4
82.9
13.4
91.4
10.3
96.9
99.8
3.0
103.3
3.5
106.9
3.5
108.6
12.2
11.6
6.0
2.6
3.4
1.6
4.4
128.5
5.8
112.5
3.6
33. Producer Price Indexes, by stage of processing
(1982 = 100)
1988
1987
Annual average
G r o u p in g
1986
F in is h e d g o o d s
...............................................................
Finished consumer goods ...........................
Finished consumer fo o d s ..........................
Finished consumer goods excluding
foods ...........................................................
Nondurable goods less food ................
Durable goods .........................................
Capital equ ipm ent.........................................
103.2
101.4
107.3
1987
105.4
103.6
109.5
Mar.
104.3
102.3
108.1
Apr.
105.1
103.2
109.2
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
106.2
104.4
109.7
106.2
104.5
109.9
105.7
103.9
108.8
106.2
104.3
110.6
105.9
104.0
109.4
101.8
101.4
95.6
112.4
101.3
95.3
112.5
112.7
101.3
95.4
112.5
112.9
103.5
103.7
104.2
104.1
108.2
99.8
105.4
112.9
109.8
109.3
109.5
101.9
107.6
113.9
110.7
110.6
106.0
104.4
110.9
105.9
104.3
109.5
105.7
104.2
110.5
100.6
101.2
101.8
101.1
94.8
96.1
110.0
111.2
101.9
95.8
113.4
112.5
102.7
103.1
105.4
103.7
105.5
103.9
110.6
100.3
94.4
98.5
93.3
108.9
109.7
100.7
94.8
111.5
111.7
99.5
93.6
110.5
100.3
94.3
111.4
111.2
111.1
111.6
111.2
111.6
95.7
111.3
111.4
111.6
96.6
110.9
111.7
99.1
101.5
99.6
100.2
100.9
101.5
102.1
102.5
95.8
112.9
112.5
112.2
In t e r m e d ia t e m a te r ia ls , s u p p lie s , a n d
c o m p o n e n t s ......................................................................
Materials and components for
manufacturing ..............................................
Materials for food m anufacturing............
Materials for nondurable manufacturing .
Materials for durable m anufacturing.......
Components for m anufacturing...............
Materials and components for
construction...................................................
Processed fuels and lu bricants...................
Containers.......................................................
Supplies...........................................................
C r u d e m a t e r i a l s f o r f u r t h e r p r o c e s s i n g ...
Foodstuffs and feedstuffs ..........................
Crude nonfood m ate rials............................
107.5
103.4
98.2
99.8
102.5
108.4
100.9
103.3
108.4
104.6
102.7
101.3
104.5
108.5
105.1
102.3
102.5
104.9
108.5
105.5
102.7
102.3
106.2
108.8
109.3
107.6
100.3
105.2
110.9
109.6
108.1
72.7
110.3
105.6
109.8
73.3
114.5
107.7
108.5
70.3
113.8
106.4
108.7
71.2
114.0
106.7
108.9
72.5
114.0
107.3
109.3
74.5
114.2
107.6
109.8
76.0
114.2
107.8
110.2
111.2
111.8
77.3
114.4
107.8
110.7
75.9
115.4
108.2
74.6
116.1
108.8
74.9
116.3
109.4
112.5
73.3
116.1
113.5
71.2
116.7
110.1
110.6
113.7
70.2
116.9
110.5
87.7
93.2
81.6
93.7
96.2
87.9
90.3
92.7
84.8
92.4
96.9
85.5
94.8
101.6
95.1
99.7
86.4
88.0
96.0
98.4
90.3
96.5
97.1
91.8
95.7
96.6
90.8
95.3
96.1
90.5
94.6
95.2
90.0
94.3
95.8
89.1
93.4
96.9
87.1
94.6
99.6
87.3
101.9
63.0
109.7
109.7
103.0
60.2
111.3
111.3
112.5
103.7
61.7
103.7
61.6
112.4
110.6
104.0
61.8
112.3
112.5
113.3
104.3
63.4
112.7
113.1
113.3
104.7
64.9
112.3
104.2
63.4
112.4
112.6
112.8
113.0
103.9
62.5
112.3
112.7
112.9
113.4
113.1
105.1
62.4
113.1
113.4
114.5
105.0
62.4
113.2
113.4
114.4
104.7
60.9
112.9
113.1
114.5
104.7
59.0
113.8
114.2
115.0
104.8
58.4
113.6
113.9
115.3
112.9
111.1
114.2
113.2
113.7
113.7
113.7
114.2
114.3
114.1
115.6
115.5
115.6
116.3
116.7
113.1
116.3
115.3
115.5
115.6
115.7
116.5
116.9
117.3
117.4
117.5
118.3
119.2
119.8
99.3
96.2
72.6
104.5
101.7
99.2
73.1
107.3
99.9
95.1
70.1
105.6
100.4
96.9
71.0
106.1
100.9
100.4
72.2
106.7
101.6
102.2
102.8
101.0
103.7
100.7
75.7
107.4
102.7
99.6
77.0
107.7
103.2
100.7
74.1
107.1
100.6
101.1
75.6
108.3
74.4
109.1
74.6
109.4
103.8
101.9
73.0
104.2
101.7
70.0
110.0
104.2
103.1
70.9
110.9
104.9
107.8
106.2
106.6
107.0
107.5
107.9
108.2
108.7
109.6
110.1
110.7
111.7
• 111.9
71.8
95.4
103.1
75.0
73.6
95.9
106.8
74.1
99.4
108.1
74.5
103.5
110.5
75.6
77.8
102.4
115.7
78.9
102.3
118.7
76.7
103.0
122.9
75.4
103.6
126.4
74.6
103.0
126.7
73.5
103.5
127.0
70.7
104.8
128.6
70.5
107.2
130.6
102.2
98.4
98.1
101.2
105.3
100.8
104.0
100.1
102.6
106.2
108.7
105.8
101.5
102.9
107.1
108.8
106.3
102.8
103.4
108.1
109.0
107.2
101.9
104.5
110.2
102.0
107.0
114.4
110.3
S p e c ia l g r o u p in g s
Finished goods, excluding fo o d s ...................
Finished energy goods ...................................
Finished goods less e n e rg y ...........................
Finished consumer goods less e n e rg y ........
Finished goods less food and energy .........
Finished consumer goods less food and
e n e rg y ...............................................................
Consumer nondurable goods less food and
e n e rg y ...............................................................
Intermediate materials less foods and
fe e d s .................................................................
Intermediate foods and fe e d s ........................
Intermediate energy goods ............................
Intermediate goods less e n e rg y ...................
Intermediate materials less foods and
e n e rg y ...............................................................
Crude energy m aterials...................................
Crude materials less energy ..........................
Crude nonfood materials less e n e rg y..........
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
100.8
115.6
112.0
112.1
112.6
102.8
113.5
111.1
103
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
34. Producer Price indexes, by durability of product
(1982 = 100)
Annual average
1987
1988
G r o u p in g
1986
1987
Mar.
Apr.
May
July
Aug.
Total durable g o o d s ........................................
Total nondurable g o o d s ..................................
107.5
94.8
109.9
97.5
108.7
95.5
109.1
96.5
109.2
97.6
109.3
98.2
109.7
98.8
110.0
110.2
99.0
Total m anufactures..........................................
D u rab le............................................................
N o ndurable.....................................................
101.7
107.5
96.0
104.4
109.6
99.2
102.8
103.5
109.0
98.1
104.0
109.1
98.9
104.3
109.1
99.5
104.8
109.4
Total raw or slightly processed goods ........
D u rab le............................................................
Nondurable .....................................................
92.3
107.8
91.5
94.2
122.5
92.9
92.4
111.7
91.4
93.1
94.8
114.6
93.8
95.4
118.6
94.2
108.7
96.9
112.1
92.2
June
100.1
96.2
121.8
95.0
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
111.7
98.6
112.0
112.6
112.8
98.8
111.4
98.5
98.3
98.5
98.5
105.1
109.7
100.5
105.1
109.7
100.4
105.8
110.9
100.7
106.0
106.5
100.9
105.9
111.5
100.5
106.5
111.1
112.0
101.0
112.1
101.0
96.2
125.7
94.7
95.9
130.9
94.3
94.9
137.3
92.9
94.7
137.8
92.7
94.5
137.8
92.4
94.1
139.5
92.0
94.2
143.4
91.9
35. Annual data: Producer Price Indexes, by stage of processing
(1982 = 100 )
In d e x
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
96.1
96.6
94.6
100.0
100.0
100.0
101.6
101.3
103.7
103.3
105.2
104.7
103.8
107.5
103.2
101.4
109.7
F in is h e d g o o d s :
Total ...........................................................................
Consumer g o o d s ..................................................
Capital equipment ................................................
69.8
69.4
71.3
77.6
77.5
77.5
88.0
88.6
85.8
102.8
In t e r m e d ia t e m a te r ia ls , s u p p lie s , a n d
c o m p o n e n ts :
Total ...........................................................................
Materials and components for
m anufacturing......................................................
Materials and components for construction ....
Processed fuels and lubricants .........................
C o n ta in e rs .............................................................
S u p p lie s .................................................................
69.5
78.4
90.3
98.6
100.0
100.6
103.1
102.7
99.1
72.0
76.5
49.9
71.0
72.9
80.9
84.2
61.6
79.4
80.2
91.7
91.3
85.0
89.1
89.9
98.7
97.9
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
101.2
102.8
104.1
105.6
95.7
105.9
104.1
103.3
107.3
92.8
109.0
104.4
102.2
85.9
95.3
104.6
84.6
69.4
103.5
104.7
95.8
94.8
96.9
102.7
87.7
93.2
81.6
92.2
100.6
96.7
96.9
95.4
100.4
101.8
108.1
72.7
110.3
105.6
C r u d e m a te r ia ls f o r f u r t h e r p r o c e s s in g :
Total ...........................................................................
Foodstuffs and feedstuffs ..................................
Nonfood materials except fuel ..........................
Fuel ........................................................................
104
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
73.4
87.3
57.5
48.2
100.0
69.6
57.3
103.0
103.9
101.8
84.8
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
101.3
101.8
100.7
105.1
102.2
105.1
36. U.S. export price indexes by Standard International Trade Classification
(June 1977=100, unless otherwise indicated)
C a te g o ry
A L L C O M M O D IT IE S
1974
SITO
( 9 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) .....................................................................
(3/83 = 10 0 ).................................................................................................
Meat (3/83 = 1 0 0 )...............................................................................................
Fish (3 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) ................................................................................................
Grain and grain preparations (3 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ...................................................
Vegetables and fruit (3 /8 3 -1 0 0 ) ...................................................................
Feedstuffs for animals (3/83 —1 0 0 )................................................................
Mlsc. food products (3/83 —1 0 0 )....................................................................
03
04
05
08
09
(6/83 —1 0 0 ).............................................................
Beverages ( 9 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................................
Tobacco and tobacco products (6 /8 3 —1 0 0 )...............................................
1
11
12
(6 /8 3 —1 0 0 )............................................................................
Raw hides and skins ( 6 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................
Oilseeds and oleaginous fruit ( 9 /7 7 - 1 0 0 ) ....................................................
Crude rubber (including synthetic and reclaimed) ( 9 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) ................
W o o d .....................................................................................................................
Pulp and waste paper (6/83 —100) ................................................................
Textile fib e rs ........................................................................................................
Crude fertilizers and m in e ra ls..........................................................................
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap ................................................................
2
21
22
1985
June
Sept.
1986
Dec.
Mar.
June
1987
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
97.5
96.5
96.7
97.0
96.7
95.1
96.2
97.2
99.9
100.2
102.8
94.0
104.7
103.6
90.3
90.2
106.1
93.6
90.5
111.5
77.2
81.2
122.0
111.2
122.6
79.8
123.4
118.5
62.9
130.8
85.7
108.6
83.4
129.0
122.9
66.5
130.8
93.7
110.0
79.6
127.9
126.3
62.1
124.4
92.4
109.4
88.5
117.8
135.4
72.3
125.4
111.5
109.3
101.7
104.7
101.4
104.0
104.8
104.0
104.4
104.4
104.5
105.7
105.6
105.7
106.3
191.2
107.5
146.2
138.7
115.0
155.1
90.7
109.1
189.1
64.3
109.0
174.0
142.6
119.2
149.8
99.7
114.4
200.3
73.6
112.9
179.9
146.6
114.4
149.8
103.8
102.6
112.2
101.8
102.2
109.2
82.6
126.9
75.7
108.1
87.1
118.9
83.4
107.7
82.1
115.3
88.5
106.0
89.5
114.7
106.2
79.1
125.8
85.5
104.7
100.1
99.7
105.3
99.6
101.8
99.5
98.6
100.9
98.4
95.6
101.9
95.1
96.5
103.0
95.9
23
24
25
26
27
28
96.8
126.2
71.2
106.3
125.7
96.1
105.8
167.9
82.0
93.3
129.0
64.2
107.1
124.5
93.8
103.6
169.4
80.1
92.5
139.9
63.9
106.0
128.1
92.7
97.7
165.5
78.7
95.8
138.9
66.9
106.0
128.7
98.8
168.0
83.4
95.6
148.9
65.8
106.1
128.7
109.7
98.6
166.1
80.5
92.3
138.0
64.5
105.3
129.7
119.8
74.7
164.3
84.6
92.2
162.8
80.7
97.1
168.8
60.4
106.2
139.0
133.0
99.7
155.6
82.2
M i n e r a l f u e l s ................................................................................................................................................
3
99.2
97.6
96.6
91.9
86.7
85.7
84.7
85.6
84.4
85.6
84.7
A n i m a l a n d v e g e t a b l e s o i l s , f a t s , a n d w a x e s ..............................................................
4
42
144.5
164.8
114.5
128.8
101.4
108.7
90.8
95.4
84.4
95.3
76.5
80.8
86.8
Fixed vegetable oils and fats (6 /8 3 —1 0 0 )...................................................
87.0
88.9
89.1
94.5
94.7
94.1
94.3
98.4
100.4
(3 /8 3 = 1 0 0 ) .......................................................................................
Organic chemicals ( 1 2 / 8 3 - 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................
Fertilizers, manufactured (3/83 —1 0 0 )............................................................
5
51
56
96.8
96.5
87.9
97.1
97.1
89.8
96.6
95.4
90.0
96.5
93.5
95.4
89.3
84.0
93.1
77.4
92.2
89.4
68.7
96.6
99.5
75.4
103.1
114.3
80.4
104.1
88.6
111.1
88.0
108.6
115.8
93.9
6
99.2
79.2
149.0
151.6
95.3
79.6
105.2
99.2
75.9
148.3
149.6
95.9
79.8
105.4
99.1
78.5
148.7
148.2
98.2
78.2
104.4
100.3
77.8
151.0
152.2
98.4
80.2
105.3
101.2
102.2
102.7
84.2
150.4
165.3
151.3
167.9
100.2
100.1
79.4
105.6
78.8
105.7
104.4
96.3
152.1
174.4
101.5
80.3
105.7
106.8
82.5
150.0
158.7
99.4
79.1
105.5
153.9
177.7
101.5
90.1
105.6
108.5
99.7
155.2
182.3
102.4
94.6
106.2
109.6
97.2
155.6
184.6
104.5
95.3
106.7
142.9
167.4
155.7
155.1
152.0
133.3
116.1
133.9
196.6
143.1
167.1
156.0
156.3
152.4
99.9
134.1
115.3
133.8
199.3
143.3
167.5
156.2
158.4
152.2
99.4
134.5
113.8
135.0
200.7
144.0
169.1
155.5
159.0
152.3
99.9
136.5
115.1
135.5
203.3
144.2
169.2
154.7
158.9
153.3
99.2
137.0
114.2
136.4
206.8
144.6
169.5
155.0
160.4
154.4
98.9
137.8
114.4
136.5
207.4
145.5
171.4
155.7
161.8
155.3
98.1
139.7
114.9
137.9
209.7
146.2
173.0
154.7
165.0
157.7
96.1
141.3
117.0
138.0
211.4
146.7
171.7
155.9
165.8
157.8
96.0
140.8
117.4
138.5
214.7
147.2
173.4
156.5
167.8
157.9
95.5
141.2
117.6
138.9
215.7
148.0
174.3
157.1
168.3
159.3
95.4
142.1
119.1
139.1
218.7
103.4
104.1
104.3
105.3
107.3
107.7
108.4
Food
B e v e ra g e s a n d to b a c c o
C r u d e m a te r ia ls
C h e m ic a ls
(9/81 = 1 0 0 )....................................
Leather and furskins (9/79 —1 0 0 )...................................................................
Rubber manufactures ........................................................................................
Paper and paperboard products ( 6 /7 8 = 1 0 0 ) ..............................................
Iron and steel (3/82 = 100) ..............................................................................
Nonferrous metals (9/81 =100) ......................................................................
Metal manufactures, n.e.s. (3 /8 2 -1 0 0 ) ........................................................
In t e r m e d ia t e m a n u fa c tu r e d p r o d u c t s
0
01
61
62
64
67
68
69
120.2
68.6
101.6
59.0
131.4
90.2
106.6
116.9
64.8
131.9
87.4
108.2
96.3
101.6
102.2
102.9
101.4
95.8
88.0
94.8
148.3
62.9
104.4
135.5
121.2
88.0
68.6
101.1
M a c h in e r y a n d t r a n s p o r t e q u ip m e n t, e x c lu d in g m ilita r y
(12/78 = 100) ...............................................
Power generating machinery and equipment (12/78= 100 ) ......................
Machinery specialized for particular industries (9 /7 8 = 1 0 0 ) ......................
Metalworking machinery (6 /7 8 -1 0 0 ) ............................................................
General industrial machines and parts n.e.s. 9/78 = 1 0 0 )..........................
Office machines and automatic data processing equipment .....................
Telecommunications, sound recording and reproducing equ ipm ent........
Electrical machinery and equipm ent...............................................................
Road vehicles and parts ( 3 /8 0 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
Other transport equipment, excl. military and commercial a v ia tio n ........
a n d c o m m e r c ia l a ir c r a ft
7
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
100.0
.......................................................................................................
8
Apparel (9/83 = 1 0 0 )..........................................................................................
Professional, scientific, and controlling instruments and apparatus.........
Photographic apparatus and supplies, optical goods, watches and
clocks ( 1 2 / 7 7 - 1 0 0 ) .........................................................................................
84
87
100.4
104.7
178.3
100.3
105.0
178.7
100.3
105.3
178.8
182.1
183.8
183.8
184.8
186.4
188.5
190.2
191.9
88
129.1
127.5
128.5
131.6
132.9
132.7
132.0
133.4
133.1
129.5
128.2
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s....................................................
89
93.1
93.1
92.4
95.6
95.6
97.6
97.7
98.1
102.1
103.0
103.8
G o l d , n o n - m o n e t a r y ( 6 / 8 3 - 1 0 0 ) .............................................................................................
971
75.4
77.4
77.5
81.8
82.2
97.5
94.5
98.2
108.4
110.0
117.1
O th e r m a n u fa c tu r e d a r tic le s
-
102.6
-
-
-
110.0
-
-
-
-
Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
105
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
37. U.S. import price indexes by Standard International Trade Classification
(June 1977=100, unless otherwise indicated)
C a te g o ry
1974
SITC
1986
1985
Dec.
Mar.
June
1987
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
94.2
88.5
83.2
83.9
86.0
91.6
102.8
03
113.4
122.7
106.7
139.3
104.7
118.5
107.1
144.8
109.1
126.9
109.4
149.6
105.3
134.4
111.5
157.1
100.2
131.2
100.5
132.7
132.1
116.8
161.6
04
05
06
07
141.9
131.3
111.9
64.6
146.9
119.4
124.6
85.9
149.2
119.4
69.2
154.0
127.1
123.9
71.8
155.3
125.5
124.3
61.0
161.0
120.5
126.0
50.9
1
11
162.1
159.1
163.2
161.8
165.5
163.9
165.8
165.5
168.0
168.2
C r u d e m a t e r i a l s .......................................................................................................................................
2
Crude rubber (inc. synthetic & reclaimed) (3/84 = 1 0 0 )..............................
Wood (9 /8 1 -1 0 0 ) .............................................................................................
Pulp and waste paper ( 1 2 / 8 1 - 1 0 0 ) ..............................................................
Crude fertilizers and crude minerals (12/83 = 100) .....................................
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap (3/84 = 1 0 0 ).........................................
Crude vegetable and animal materials, n.e.s.................................................
23
24
25
27
28
29
91.2
73.2
99.4
75.8
95.3
75.5
106.3
79.9
98.1
76.9
109.4
98.5
78.5
107.2
92.8
100.0
95.6
104.4
100.4
98.2
104.8
100.2
90.1
102.5
94.2
78.8
104.3
74.9
101.5
94.5
103.6
( 6 /8 2 - 1 0 0 ) .......................................................
Petroleum and petroleum products (6/82 —100) ..........................................
3
33
79.1
80.1
55.3
54.7
37.5
36.1
(9/83 —100) .................................................................................
Vegetable oils (9/83 —1 0 0 )..............................................................................
4
42
50.6
48.9
41.4
39.3
39.3
37.4
(9 /8 2 -1 0 0 ) .......................................................................................
Medicinal and pharmaceutical products (3/84 —100) .................................
Manufactured fertilizers (3 /8 4 —1 0 0 )..............................................................
Chemical materials and products, n.e.s. (9 /8 4 —1 0 0 ).................................
5
54
56
59
94.2
96.7
78.5
97.8
94.6
102.9
79.2
99.9
93.3
104.9
79.7
100.3
6
68
133.4
141.3
138.1
124.0
156.5
128.1
162.2
118.3
80.4
69
121.6
134.0
141.6
136.5
130.8
157.1
131.2
164.2
117.3
79.4
124.4
135.6
143.0
137.7
134.3
157.1
132.9
169.6
118.1
78.9
127.8
7
72
73
74
107.2
104.9
98.1
98.0
111.5
105.0
103.8
115.3
115.4
107.7
109.0
75
93.7
96.9
76
77
78
88.6
83.1
117.8
A L L C O M M O D IT IE S
( 9 /8 2 - 1 0 0 ) .....................................................................
( 9 /7 7 - 1 0 0 ) .................................................................................................
M e a t.....................................................................................................................
Dairy products and eggs (6 /8 1 -1 0 0 ) ..........................................................
F is h ........................................................................................................................
Bakery goods, pasta products, grain and grain preparations
(9 /7 7 -1 0 0 ) .......................................................................................................
Fruits and vegetables ........................................................................................
Sugar, sugar preparations, and honey (3/82 —1 0 0 )....................................
Coffee, tea, c o c o a ..............................................................................................
Food
B e v e ra g e s a n d to b a c c o
..................................................................................................................
Beverages ...........................................................................................................
F u e ls a n d r e la t e d p r o d u c t s
F a ts a n d o ils
C h e m ic a ls
(12/77 —100) .................................
Leather and furskins ..........................................................................................
Rubber manufactures, n.e.s...............................................................................
Cork and wood manufactures .........................................................................
Paper and paperboard products .....................................................................
T extiles.................................................................................................................
Nonmetallic mineral manufactures, n.e.s........................................................
Iron and steel (9/78 —100) ..............................................................................
Nonferrous metals (12/81 — 1 0 0 ) ....................................................................
Metal manufactures, n.e.s..................................................................................
In t e r m e d ia t e m a n u f a c t u r e d p r o d u c ts
M a c h i n e r y a n d t r a n s p o r t e q u i p m e n t ( 6 / 8 1 — 1 0 0 ) .................................................
Machinery specialized for particular industries (9 /7 8 —100) ......................
Metalworking machinery (3 /8 0 —100) ............................................................
General industrial machinery and parts, n.e.s. (6/81 -1 0 0 ) ......................
Office machines and automatic data processing equipment
( 3 /8 0 - 1 0 0 ) ......................................................................................................
Telecommunications, sound recording and reproducing apparatus
( 3 /8 0 - 1 0 0 ) ......................................................................................................
Electrical machinery and equipment (12/81 = 100) .....................................
Road vehicles and parts (6/81 - 1 0 0 ) ............................................................
( 3 /8 0 - 1 0 0 ) ......................................................
Plumbing, heating, and lighting fixtures (6/80 = 100) ..................................
Furniture and parts (6 /8 0 -1 0 0 ) .....................................................................
Clothing (9 /7 7 -1 0 0 ) .........................................................................................
Footw ear..............................................................................................................
Professional, scientific, and controlling instruments and
apparatus ( 1 2 / 7 9 - 1 0 0 ) ..................................................................................
Photographic apparatus and supplies, optical goods, watches, and
clocks ( 3 /8 0 - 1 0 0 ) ...........................................................................................
Misc. manufactured articles, n.e.s. ( 6 /8 2 - 1 0 0 ) ..........................................
M is c . m a n u f a c t u r e d a r t ic le s
G o l d , n o n - m o n e t a r y ( 6 / 8 2 — 1 0 0 ) .............................................................................................
106
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
0
01
02
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
102.1
121.6
June
Sept.
Dec.
96.8
98.7
102.0
102.8
135.9
119.6
167.4
142.9
118.9
174.4
105.5
142.0
122.3
175.2
165.2
125.4
128.6
49.3
161.2
124.5
128.0
48.3
168.3
131.2
125.3
51.5
170.8
171.5
174.1
174.6
174.4
175.6
175.9
177.8
105.6
84.5
120.3
108.6
89.4
119.2
105.9
97.3
102.9
113.6
112.7
97.8
95.4
104.7
103.1
79.1
115.0
100.5
99.5
98.0
113.4
33.6
32.1
38.4
37.9
49.7
49.9
54.8
55.2
56.4
57.3
55.2
56.2
35.5
33.5
51.6
50.0
50.8
49.2
54.5
52.6
61.3
59.4
64.5
62.5
98.7
120.3
83.6
105.0
99.5
118.8
98.8
108.2
104.4
123.3
124.2
86.0
95.3
112.0
104.6
98.5
100.0
111.2
111.9
98.7
113.3
118.5
93.4
93.2
110.0
110.1
77.4
79.7
101.0
102.8
95.9
116.2
81.8
104.3
138.8
147.4
138.1
137.4
157.5
135.1
178.2
119.0
83.5
129.1
139.4
143.3
138.1
142.7
164.8
135.3
180.2
118.5
81.6
129.1
142.2
149.5
140.8
144.3
165.2
138.8
183.1
122.3
82.4
133.4
147.4
156.6
140.5
151.6
165.0
140.4
190.3
127.1
90.9
134.5
152.8
159.6
138.0
156.3
174.6
142.8
195.1
132.1
97.5
136.0
157.9
167.5
139.8
157.6
177.7
147.6
199.3
138.9
101.9
139.4
120.2
121.0
112.8
115.7
113.9
123.9
127.5
122.4
120.5
126.1
130.0
126.1
123.3
126.4
130.0
129.8
122.4
129.4
136.9
135.0
128.7
101.3
102.5
102.4
103.2
106.4
106.8
109.1
89.4
84.5
123.4
91.6
87.5
127.1
93.7
89.5
129.8
93.9
91.7
133.2
94.6
93.6
137.0
95.5
94.8
139.2
95.9
94.2
139.6
97.3
96.5
141.7
112.1
118.1
120.1
110.7
110.1
8
100.8
103.3
81
82
84
85
115.0
142.7
134.5
142.7
120.1
147.0
133.4
147.0
104.8
123.5
142.2
135.3
142.2
109.5
125.5
145.8
137.8
145.8
109.6
125.5
146.9
139.1
146.9
114.3
125.5
148.9
145.5
148.9
118.1
130.6
153.3
150.9
153.3
119.8
131.1
156.1
153.8
156.1
123.8
137.5
161.2
154.5
161.2
87
102.4
106.4
112.5
118.3
118.0
125.6
129.5
127.0
132.4
88
94.5
97.9
99.3
106.9
112.3
111.8
114.4
102.1
103.2
103.4
107.6
89
111.0
116.9
121.8
113.2
124.6
116.9
132.2
971
101.0
106.7
107.3
126.9
123.3
128.0
141.5
143.5
152.8
38.
U.S. export price indexes by end-use category
(September 1983 = 100 unless otherwise indicated)
C a te g o ry
Foods, feeds, and beverages .............................................................
Raw m ate rials........................................................................................
Raw materials, nondurable ...............................................................
Raw materials, d u ra b le ......................................................................
Capital goods (1 2 /8 2 = 1 0 0 )................................................................
Automotive vehicles, parts and engines (12/82 — 100) .................
Consumer g o o d s ....................................................................................
Durables ...............................................................................................
Nondurables.........................................................................................
39.
Percentage
of 1980
trade
value
16.294
30.696
21.327
9.368
30.186
7.483
7.467
3.965
3.501
Dec.
77.5
95.9
97.9
91.0
106.6
109.2
101.4
99.5
103.3
1987
1986
1985
June
Mar.
Sept.
75.5
96.0
97.5
92.5
107.4
109.5
103.7
74.7
94.9
96.1
91.9
107.5
110.4
104.5
101.8
101.8
102.1
105.5
107.2
106.9
66.0
93.3
93.7
92.5
107.7
Dec.
68.4
94.8
95.4
93.2
108.3
110.8
111.8
104.5
105.7
102.7
108.5
Mar.
June
67.1
98.2
99.4
95.1
108.9
111.9
106.9
103.9
109.8
Sept.
71.3
103.1
104.7
99.2
109.4
112.1
107.1
103.6
110.5
68.0
105.9
106.1
105.3
109.8
112.5
107.5
104.3
110.5
Dec.
75.6
108.1
108.4
107.3
110.7
112.6
108.1
105.3
110.9
U.S. import price indexes by end-use category
(December 1982=100)
C a te g o ry
Foods, feeds, and beverages .............................................................
Petroleum and petroleum products, excl. natural g a s ....................
Raw materials, excluding petroleum ..................................................
Raw materials, n o n durable...............................................................
Raw materials, d u ra b le ......................................................................
Capital g o o d s..........................................................................................
Automotive vehicles, parts and e n g in e s ...........................................
Consumer g o o d s ...................................................................................
D u ra b le .................................................................................................
Nondurable...........................................................................................
40.
Per
centage
of 1980
trade
value
7.477
31.108
19.205
9.391
9.814
13.164
11.750
14.250
5.507
8.743
1985
Dec.
1986
Mar.
June
106.0
80.5
93.9
91.8
96.2
115.8
55.4
94.5
91.1
98.1
100.0
102.8
111.4
102.4
100.7
104.7
115.6
104.5
103.4
106.0
108.2
36.8
94.0
89.7
98.7
106.7
119.0
106.5
106.5
106.6
1987
Sept.
112.3
32.6
95.3
89.5
101.4
109.4
121.0
110.1
111.2
108.6
Dec.
109.2
38.3
94.9
89.7
100.3
110.7
123.9
110.6
111.6
109.2
Mar.
June
104.7
50.5
96.9
91.8
102.3
115.3
126.2
114.3
114.8
113.7
106.6
55.8
100.5
94.5
106.8
117.9
128.0
117.5
117.5
117.6
Sept.
107.5
57.9
103.5
95.4
112.0
118.2
127.9
119.1
119.0
119.3
Dec.
109.9
56.8
106.7
97.9
116.1
122.3
129.7
122.1
122.2
121.9
U.S. export price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification 1
1985
1986
1987
In d u s t r y g r o u p
Dec.
Manufacturing:
Food and kindred products (6/83 = 100) .............................
Lumber and wood products, except furniture
( 6 /8 3 - 1 0 0 ) ............................................................................
Furniture and fixtures (9/83 = 100) .......................................
Paper and allied products (3/81 = 1 0 0 )................................
Chemicals and allied products (12/84 = 1 0 0 )......................
Petroleum and coal products (12/83 — 1 0 0 )........................
Primary metal products (3/82 = 100) ....................................
Machinery, except electrical (9 /7 8 = 1 0 0 ) ............................
Electrical machinery (1 2/80= 100 ) .......................................
Transportation equipment (1 2 /7 8 = 1 0 0 )..............................
Scientific instruments; optical goods; clocks
( 6 /7 7 = 1 0 0 ) ............................................................................
Mar.
98.1
97.0
101.2
101.5
109.2
95.7
98.9
93.5
89.8
140.6
108.4
92.1
99.2
99.1
87.9
140.5
June
95.0
101.2
111.2
112.6
164.1
165.1
109.7
101.5
98.3
83.1
89.8
140.3
112.3
167.1
156.7
159.7
161.2
Sept.
Dec.
Mar.
June
Sept.
Dec.
95.2
97.6
99.0
104.1
103.6
113.4
102.1
110.1
109.8
113.4
113.7
113.0
114.0
116.7
106.3
137.2
116.9
123.2
167.4
105.7
110.4
108.7
95.9
82.2
89.9
140.7
113.6
169.4
161.5
162.3
106.1
96.2
83.1
90.7
140.5
112.6
83.5
91.7
141.0
115.2
170.0
86.8
133.1
114.1
120.3
107.6
87.1
97.4
141.2
115.3
171.2
100.1
101.0
141.4
115.8
172.3
142.0
116.8
173.9
163.3
164.6
164.7
165.4
100.1
112.6
85.8
1 SIC - based classification.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
107
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
41.
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Price Data
U.S. import price indexes by Standard Industrial Classification 1
1985
1987
1986
In d u s t r y g r o u p
Mar.
Dec.
June
Sept.
Mar.
Dec.
Sept.
June
Dec.
Manufacturing:
117.7
104.7
133.4
115.6
106.4
135.1
118.0
107.1
137.8
122.4
108.0
139.3
122.7
111.7
146.0
125.9
113.6
150.9
128.5
116.2
153.9
129.8
115.8
98.2
137.4
95.8
122.1
101.2
124.8
103.5
139.4
127.9
105.4
142.2
103.8
127.9
105.6
150.3
102.4
134.5
109.6
154.0
104.7
135.0
155.7
105.7
141.3
111.5
162.9
106.1
136.3
113.1
167.6
97.5
144.0
82.6
102.1
104.4
151.8
85.4
115.5
119.1
105.7
136.5
105.8
156.2
91.3
116.2
104.9
159.8
96.0
118.1
122.2
122.6
95.8
119.6
100.9
145.8
82.0
104.9
105.5
97.0
123.9
106.9
138.4
106.6
138.7
108.8
164.0
100.3
119.9
128.1
108.7
141.2
98.8
98.7
115.1
101.8
134.4
Lumber and wood products, except furniture
(6 /7 7 -1 0 0 ) ...................................................................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastic products
( 1 2 / 8 0 - 1 0 0 ) .................................................................................
137.6
98.6
102.6
100.0
Scientific instruments; optical goods; clocks
( 1 2 / 7 9 - 1 0 0 ) .................................................................................
Miscellaneous manufactured commodities
( 9 /8 2 - 1 0 0 ) ...................................................................................
102.1
110.2
100.2
102.6
128.0
130.4
114.2
104.0
133.2
103.9
109.1
113.7
113.7
1*9.1
122.1
120.4
124.6
99.9
101.7
106.9
108.1
110.3
113.8
116.4
118.8
148.7
84.0
111.1
Indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, and unit costs, quarterly data seasonally adjusted
Quarterly Indexes
1985
II
1986
III
IV
107.2
174.6
98.6
162.8
160.4
162.0
108.2
177.0
99.4
163.6
161.8
163.0
107.9
179.3
99.7
166.1
160.2
164.0
109.5
180.7
105.7
174.1
98.3
164.7
161.5
163.6
106.4
176.2
98.9
165.7
163.4
164.9
105.9
178.3
99.2
168.3
160.8
165.7
107.7
180.0
99.7
167.2
164.7
166.4
107.7
171.8
97.0
164.3
159.5
178.7
132.2
162.5
160.5
109.2
173.8
97.6
163.7
159.1
177.5
142.5
165.2
161.2
108.9
175.7
97.7
166.0
161.4
179.4
128.7
161.6
161.5
124.1
176.1
99.5
142.0
125.3
178.0
99.9
142.1
126.1
180.2
I
II
1987
III
IV
I
109.7
182.2
101.3
166.2
163.9
165.4
109.6
183.6
101.4
167.5
165.7
166.9
109.6
185.2
107.7
181.3
101.2
100.2
168.4
165.2
167.3
107.5
182.6
100.9
169.8
167.0
168.8
171.5
163.9
168.8
109.8
177.2
98.2
166.3
161.5
180.7
129.7
162.8
161.9
109.7
178.4
99.1
167.2
162.6
180.6
129.5
162.7
162.7
109.9
179.5
99.2
168.5
163.2
184.2
130.6
165.4
164.0
127.6
181.0
100.3
141.9
128.4
182.1
101.2
141.8
141.7
142.0
II
III
IV
B u s in e s s :
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s................................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Unit labor c o s ts ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
N o n fa rm
100.1
165.0
163.1
164.3
110.1
169.0
162.4
166.7
109.7
185.8
100.7
169.4
166.0
168.2
187.3
100.3
170.2
168.6
169.6
111.3
189.1
100.3
169.8
172.2
170.7
171.4
171.2
171.3
107.5
184.4
107.6
184.9
171.8
167.4
170.3
108.0
186.3
99.7
172.5
169.2
171.4
109.1
187.9
99.6
172.2
173.0
172.5
109.0
189.5
99.6
173.8
171.9
173.1
110.5
181.0
99.3
168.7
163.8
183.2
127.7
163.7
163.8
109.7
180.8
98.0
169.7
164.8
184.1
132.2
165.9
165.2
109.9
182.0
97.4
170.9
165.6
186.6
132.9
167.8
166.3
183.3
97.2
171.0
165.5
187.3
142.1
171.4
167.5
129.3
183.1
129.8
184.3
101.2
101.2
130.8
183.9
99.6
140.5
132.9
184.8
98.9
139.0
134.1
185.4
98.3
138.2
101.6
111.1
190.5
100.2
b u s in e s s :
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s................................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Unit labor costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor p a y m e n ts ...........................................
Implicit price deflator .................................................
100.8
N o n fin a n c ia l c o r p o r a tio n s :
Output per hour of all e m plo yees...........................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Total unit c o s ts ...........................................................
Unit labor costs .......................................................
Unit nonlabor c o s ts ................................................
Unit p ro fits ...................................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
110.8
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
-
M a n u fa c tu r in g :
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s................................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Unit labor c o s ts ..........................................................
-
108
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Data not available.
110.8
101.9
147.7
64.9
110.3
112.5
100.6
(1977 = 100)
Item
154.5
144.6
82.4
108.5
109.0
1 SIC - based classification.
42.
120.8
100.2
142.9
134.1
186.3
97.9
138.9
43.
Annual indexes of multifactor productivity and related measures, selected years
(1977 = 100)
Item
1960
1970
1973
1976
1978
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
P r iv a te b u s in e s s
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital se rv ic e s .......................
Multifactor productivity...........................................
O u tp u t..........................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons...............................................
Capital services .......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital in p u t.........
Capital per hour of all persons................................
P r iv a te n o n fa r m
67.3
100.8
102.0
101.2
78.1
55.3
88.4
101.9
92.9
80.2
95.9
105.3
99.1
93.0
98.4
97.2
98.0
94.5
82.2
54.2
70.8
65.9
90.8
78.7
86.3
86.7
96.9
88.3
93.8
91.1
96.1
97.2
96.5
89.2
96.4
106.0
99.6
92.9
98.5
97.3
98.1
94.4
96.3
87.6
93.3
91.0
95.8
97.0
96.2
101.3
105.1
104.0
104.7
98.9
102.1
101.2
100.6
105.8
99.2
94.2
97.4
106.6
92.4
97.7
108.9
100.3
86.7
95.3
105.4
103.1
88.4
97.7
109.9
105.0
103.8
104.5
98.8
107.5
113.1
109.4
105.3
108.2
117.8
111.5
108.8
105.2
121.7
110.7
115.7
106.7
124.4
100.8
101.2
98.7
93.4
96.9
106.6
99.6
91.1
96.7
108.4
99.1
85.1
94.1
104.8
108.0
114.1
108.8
119.0
105.6
101.4
91.2
98.7
103.2
105.7
92.8
107.6
92.8
119.2
124.0
109.7
92.8
103.4
128.1
112.8
128.5
118.1
113.9
115.2
133.6
121.3
116.0
116.8
138.0
123.8
118.2
102.5
87.3
97.0
110.1
104.7
91.3
99.9
119.3
105.9
90.8
100.5
123.7
107.6
90.5
101.4
127.6
109.4
105.7
123.2
111.4
116.5
1074
126.1
113.5
117.4
114.0
130.6
119.4
114.6
116.8
136.3
123.1
116.7
118.5
141.0
125.8
119.0
103.6
89.2
99.8
104.8
105.9
81.8
99.2
98.4
86.9
105.1
104.7
118.1
95.7
124.2
97.8
117.0
122.5
128.8
99.3
125.9
101.1
92.9
120.3
99.2
129.4
98.7
125.3
104.8
127.0
97.8
126.8
104.4
129.7
112.6
116.6
101.0 102.2
b u s in e s s
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital s e rv ic e s .......................
Multifactor p roductivity...........................................
O u tp u t..........................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons...............................................
Capital services .......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital in p u t.........
Capital per hour of all persons................................
70.7
103.6
80.9
54.4
77.0
52.5
67.3
68.2
102.8
93.7
79.9
89.6
77.8
85.3
86.8
101.9
106.0
110.0 112.2
M a n u fa c tu r in g
Productivity:
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s .............................
Output per unit of capital s e rv ic e s.......................
Multifactor p roductivity...........................................
O u tp u t..........................................................................
Inputs:
Hours of all persons...............................................
Capital services .......................................................
Combined units of labor and capital in p u ts .......
Capital per hour of all persons................................
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
62.2
102.5
71.9
52.5
80.8
98.6
85.2
78.6
93.4
111.4
97.9
96.3
97.1
96.2
96.8
93.1
101.7
106.0
84.4
51.2
73.0
60.7
97.3
79.7
92.2
82.0
103.1
86.4
98.4
83.8
95.9
96.7
96.1
100.9
104.4
103.7
104.2
99.4
101.5
102.1
101.7
113.1
104.5
111.2
117.5
105.0
116.2
112.0
112.2
117.5
93.5
99.5
99.7
129.0
104.7
123.5
120.6 122.8
120.6
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics: Productivity Data
44. Annual indexes of productivity, hourly compensation, unit costs, and prices, selected years
(1977 = 100)
Item
1960
1970
1973
67.6
33.6
68.9
49.7
46.4
48.5
88.4
57.8
90.2
65.4
59.4
63.2
95.9
70.9
96.7
73.9
72.5
73.4
98.3
92.8
98.7
94.3
93.3
94.0
107.6
106.7
107.3
71.0
35.3
72.3
49.7
46.3
48.5
89.3
58.2
90.8
65.2
60.0
63.4
96.4
71.2
97.1
73.9
69.3
72.3
98.5
92.8
98.8
94.3
93.0
93.8
108.6
100.9
107.7
105.6
107.0
73.4
36.9
75.5
49.4
50.2
47.0
59.8
51.5
50.7
91.1
59.2
92.4
64.8
65.0
64.2
52.3
60.1
63.3
97.5
71.6
97.6
72.7
73.4
70.7
65.6
68.9
71.9
98.4
92.9
98.9
94.8
94.3
96.2
89.4
93.8
94.2
100.6
62.2
36.5
74.8
58.7
60.0
59.1
80.8
57.4
89.5
71.0
64.1
69.0
93.4
97.1
92.1
98.1
94.9
93.5
94.5
101.5
108.2
100.5
106.6
101.9
105.2
1976
B u s in e s s :
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s................................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Unit labor costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
N o n fa rm
b u s in e s s :
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s................................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Unit labor costs ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor p a y m e n ts ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
N o n fin a n c ia l c o r p o r a tio n s :
Output per hour of all e m plo yees...........................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Total unit c o s ts ...........................................................
Unit labor costs .......................................................
Unit nonlabor c o s ts ................................................
Unit p ro fits ...................................................................
Unit nonlabor p a y m e n ts...........................................
Implicit price d e fla to r.................................................
1978
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
100.8
108.5
100.8
99.3
131.5
96.7
132.5
118.7
127.6
100.7
143.7
95.7
142.7
134.6
139.8
100.3
154.9
97.3
154.5
136.6
148.1
103.0
161.5
98.2
156.7
146.4
153.0
105.6
168.0
98.0
159.1
156.5
158.2
107.5
175.9
99.1
163.6
160.3
162.4
109.5
182.8
110.5
188.2
100.3
170.2
169.5
170.0
98.8
131.3
96.6
132.9
118.5
127.8
99.8
143.6
95.7
144.0
133.5
140.3
99.2
154.8
97.2
156.0
136.5
149.2
102.5
161.5
98.2
157.6
148.3
154.3
104.6
167.8
97.9
160.4
156.4
159.0
105.8
175.2
98.7
165.6
161.3
164.1
107.5
182.0
99.1
131.1
96.4
133.4
132.3
136.7
85.2
118.6
127.6
99.6
143.3
95.5
147.7
143.8
159.1
98.1
137.8
141.7
100.4
154.3
96.9
159.5
153.8
176.4
78.5
142.1
149.8
103.5
159.9
97.3
159.5
154.5
174.3
110.9
152.1
153.7
106.0
165.8
96.7
160.8
156.5
173.6
136.5
160.6
157.9
108.2
172.8
97.4
164.4
159.7
178.3
133.9
162.7
160.7
109.9
178.9
98.9
167.7
162.8
182.2
129.3
163.7
163.1
101.4
132.4
97.4
130.6
97.8
103.6
145.2
96.7
140.1
105.9
157.5
98.9
148.7
114.0
138.6
112.0
162.4
98.8
145.0
128.5
140.2
118.1
168.0
98.0
142.2
138.6
141.2
124.2
176.9
99.6
142.4
134.7
140.2
128.8
182.7
100.9
141.8
137.9
140.7
100.8
108.4
100.7
107.3
107.8
105.7
102.0
104.4
106.6
101.0
166.9
163.8
165.8
100.6
169.3
165.2
167.8
108.4
187.1
99.8
172.6
170.4
171.8
-
-
M a n u fa c tu r in g :
Output per hour of all p e rs o n s ................................
Compensation per h o u r............................................
Real compensation per h o u r ...................................
Unit labor c o s ts ..........................................................
Unit nonlabor payments ...........................................
Implicit price deflator ................................................
-
110
Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
68.8
93.8
73.7
70.7
72.8
121.0
111.8
131.8
133.0
185.1
98.7
139.1
-
-
45. Unemployment rates, approximating U.S. concepts, in nine countries, quarterly data
seasonally adjusted
1987
1986
Annual average
Country
1986
1987
IV
III
II
IV
III
II
I
T o t a l la b o r f o r c e b a s is
United S ta te s ........................................
Canada ...................................................
Australia ................................................
Japan ......................................................
F ra n c e ....................................................
G erm any................................................
Italy 1, 2 ..................................................
Sweden .................................................
United Kingdom ....................................
6.9
9.5
8.0
2.8
10.4
7.1
6.2
2.6
11.1
6.1
-
-
_
-
7.1
9.5
7.7
-
6.8
2.8
2.9
9.4
8.3
2.9
10.4
7.2
10.6
10.6
7.0
5.9
6.9
6.5
2.6
11.1
10.9
6.2
2.6
11.2
-
6.9
9.6
8.2
2.6
6.5
9.6
8.3
3.0
6.2
5.9
5.8
9.0
8.0
3.1
8.8
8.0
2.8
10.9
7.0
11.0
10.8
10.6
7.0
7.1
6.6
2.0
10.6
6.6
6.6
1.9
1.9
9.7
7.1
6.9
1.7
9.1
3.1
6.0
8.8
8.0
2.8
8.1
8.0
2.8
11.1
10.8
8.1
10.2
7.9
2.7
C iv ilia n la b o r f o r c e b a s is
United S ta te s ........................................
Canada ..................................................
Australia ................................................
Japan ......................................................
France ....................................................
G erm any................................................
Italy1, 2 ....................................................
Sweden ..................................................
United Kingdom ....................................
8.1
-
7.2
9.6
7.8
2.8
-
2.8
7.0
9.6
10.7
7.2
6.3
2.7
11.1
6.2
-
_
-
“
1 Quarterly rates are for the first month of the quarter.
2 Major changes in the Italian labor force survey, intro
duced in 1977, resulted in a large increase in persons enu
merated as unemployed. However, many persons reported
that they had not actively sought work in the past 30 days,
and they have been provisionally excluded for comparability
with U.S. concepts. Inclusion of such persons would about
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
10.7
7.3
6.3
2.6
11.2
6.3
9.1
7.0
9.7
8.3
2.9
6.8
6.6
9.4
8.4
2.9
9.6
8.3
3.0
10.8
10.8
11.2
11.2
7.2
7.0
6.0
2.6
11.2
6.6
2.6
7.1
6.7
7.2
6.7
1.9
10.3
10.9
2.0
10.7
8.2
7.2
6.8
1.9
9.8
5.9
7.3
7.0
1.7
9.2
double the Italian unemployment rate shown.
- Data not available.
NOTE: Quarterly figures for France, Germany, and the
United Kingdom are calculated by applying annual adjust
ment factors to current published data and therefore should
be viewed as less precise indicators of unemployment under
U.S. concepts than the annual figures.
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
International Comparisons Data
46. Annual data: Employment status of the civilian working-age population, approximating U.S. concepts,
10 countries
(Numbers in thousands)
Employment status and country
1978
1979
1980
102,251
10,895
6,443
54,610
22,460
26,000
20,570
5,010
4,203
26,260
104,962
11,231
6,519
55,210
22,670
26,250
20,850
5,100
4,262
26,350
106,940
11,573
6,693
55,740
22,800
26,520
63.2
62.7
61.9
62.8
57.5
53.3
47.8
48.8
63.7
63.4
61.6
62.7
57.5
53.3
48.0
49.0
63.8
64.1
62.1
62.6
57.2
53.2
48.2
50.2
66.9
62.5
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
108,670
11,904
6,810
56,320
22,930
26,650
21,320
5,520
4,327
26,590
110,204
11,958
6,910
56,980
23,160
26,700
21,410
5,570
4,350
26,740
111,550
12,183
6,997
58,110
23,130
26,650
21,590
5,600
4,369
26,790
113,544
12,399
7,133
58,480
23,290
26,760
21,670
5,620
4,385
27,180
115,461
12,639
7,272
58,820
23,340
26,980
21,800
5,710
4,418
27,370
117,834
12,870
7,562
59,410
23,480
27,180
21,990
5,760
4,437
27,460
63.9
64.8
61.9
62.6
57.1
52.9
48.3
51.4
64.0
64.1
61.7
62.7
57.1
52.6
47.7
51.2
64.4
64.8
61.5
62.7
56.6
52.4
47.3
50.5
64.8
65.2
61.8
62.3
56.2
52.6
47.2
50.7
66.9
62.7
65.3
65.7
63.0
62.1
56.2
53.0
47.5
50.8
67.2
62.5
1986
L a b o r fo rc e
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F ra n ce ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w eden........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
2 1,120
5,310
4,312
26,520
P a r tic ip a tio n r a t e 1
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
66.8
66.8
62.2
62.3
64.0
64.4
61.4
63.1
56.6
52.3
47.5
50.9
66.7
62.1
100,397
11,006
6,416
55,060
4,980
4,226
24,670
100,834
10,734
6,300
56,550
21,170
24,750
20,320
4,890
4,218
23,600
105,005
25,560
20,280
5,010
4,219
23,800
99,526
10,644
6,415
55,620
21,240
25,140
20,250
4,980
4,213
23,710
6,490
56,870
20,980
24,790
20,390
4,930
4,249
24,000
107,150
11,311
6,670
57,260
20,900
24,950
20,490
5,110
4,293
24,300
109,597
11,634
6,952
57,740
20,970
25,210
20,610
5,200
4,319
24,400
59.9
58.7
57.8
61.4
54.0
51.7
45.9
46.4
65.3
59.2
59.2
59.3
58.3
61.3
53.5
51.7
46.1
47.0
65.6
58.1
59.0
59.9
58.4
61.2
52.8
50.8
45.9
46.6
65.1
55.7
57.8
57.0
57.3
61.2
52.3
49.6
45.2
45.8
64.7
55.3
57.9
56.7
55.3
61.4
51.8
48.6
44.7
44.5
64.4
54.7
59.5
57.4
56.0
61.0
51.0
48.5
44.5
44.3
64.5
55.3
60.1
58.4
56.6
60.6
50.4
48.7
44.4
45.4
65.0
55.7
60.7
59.4
57.9
60.4
50.2
49.1
44.6
45.9
65.4
55.6
6,137
836
408
1,170
1,370
780
920
270
7,637
865
409
1,140
1,470
770
920
330
8,273
898
394
1,260
1,730
1,090
1,040
510
108
2,790
10,678
1,314
495
1,360
1,920
1,560
1,160
590
137
3,030
10,717
1,448
697
1,560
1,960
1,900
1,270
710
151
3,190
8,539
1,399
642
1,610
2,310
1,970
1,280
690
136
3,180
8,312
1,328
602
1,560
2,440
2,030
1,310
600
125
3,070
8,237
1,236
610
1,670
2,510
1,970
1,380
560
118
3,060
7.6
7.5
5.8
9.7
11.0
9.6
11.9
7.2
10.5
8.3
7.0
9.6
10.0
7.5
11.3
9.0
2.7
8.5
7.1
5.9
12.7
3.5
11.9
2.8
2.6
9.9
7.4
5.9
12.3
3.1
11.7
10.4
7.5
66.1
66.6
62.8
62.6
96,048
9,987
6,038
53,370
21,250
25,130
19,720
4,750
4,109
24,610
98,824
10,395
54,040
21,300
25,470
19,930
4,830
4,174
24,940
59.3
57.5
58.0
61.3
54.4
51.5
45.9
46.3
64.6
58.8
6,202
66.6
62.6
E m p lo y e d
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
6,111
99,303
10,708
6,284
54,600
21,330
25,750
21,200
20,200
11,000
E m p lo y m e n t-p o p u la tio n r a tio 2
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w eden........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
U n e m p lo y e d
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F ra n c e ..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
908
405
1,240
1,210
870
850
260
94
1,650
88
86
1,420
1,850
5.8
7.4
6.3
7.1
7.5
U n e m p lo y m e n t r a te
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
A u stralia.......................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
F ra n ce ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
112
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6.1
8.3
6.3
2.3
5.4
3.3
4.1
5.2
2.1
6.0
3.0
4.4
5.3
6.1
2.0
2.2
2.1
6.2
2.0
6.3
5.4
7.0
1 Labor force as a percent of the civilian working-age population.
2 Employment as a percent of the civilian working-age population.
2.2
6.4
2.9
4.4
7.5
4.1
4.9
9.2
2.5
10.5
-
7.2
2.4
8.3
5.8
5.4
10.6
3.1
11.3
Data not available.
6.0
10.5
2.8
11.2
8.1
2.8
10.7
7.2
6.3
9.7
2.7
11.1
47.
Annual indexes of manufacturing productivity and related measures, 12 countries
(1977 = 100)
Item and country
1960
1970
1973
1975
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
101.4
101.4
98.2
122.7
119.2
112.3
103.6
102.9
127.2
127.6
114.2
114.0
105.9
98.3
135.0
135.2
114.6
112.0
105.4
142.3
148.2
118.1
116.8
152.5
154.4
118.6
129.0
123.6
144.4
140.5
123.9
131.0
129.8
124.2
119.7
163.7
159.0
118.3
133.0
128.7
146.6
145.1
125.2
136.1
134.7
128.8
119.4
168.2
163.1
119.9
135.6
130.6
148.3
144.7
124.4
136.4
139.5
104.7
99.6
148.2
114.8
115.6
103.8
103.6
111.5
107.0
97.2
105.2
88.9
117.5
114.9
165.4
117.5
119.7
104.0
106.4
116.2
113.3
122.5
125.9
123.9
182.1
99.5
98.3
108.5
76.1
100.9
80.6
85.9
76.2
93.5
94.5
104.2
77.5
96.2
82.9
86.9
82.2
83.9
82.9
83.9
72.2
80.5
80.6
82.8
85.1
71.2
109.6
75.4
104.3
77.7
85.6
80.5
79.9
84.0
84.7
70.7
1976
1977
97.1
94.8
94.3
95.3
98.2
95.1
96.5
98.9
95.8
99.7
101.7
99.1
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
114.8
111.9
106.5
109.7
108.2
110.5
112.3
107.1
110.9
102.5
93.1
96.5
94.8
99.7
99.6
96.1
98.0
97.9
99.0
101.4
106.1
98.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
108.1
108.5
113.9
104.1
105.4
105.3
106.6
108.6
106.1
100.3
103.6
100.5
103.2
103.6
124.1
106.8
95.9
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
106.5
106.3
99.3
93.0
99.0
95.9
98.5
98.2
94.4
93.6
93.4
98.0
118.6
118.6
113.4
117.5
123.1
128.4
116.1
134.7
117.0
116.0
O u tp u t p e r h o u r
62.2
50.7
23.2
33.0
37.2
36.4
40:3
35.4
32.4
54.6
42.3
55.9
80.8
75.6
64.8
60.4
65.6
69.6
71.2
72.7
64.3
81.7
80.7
80.4
93.4
90.3
83.1
78.8
83.3
82.3
84.0
90.9
81.5
94.6
94.8
95.5
52.5
41.3
19.2
41.9
49.2
35.4
50.0
36.4
44.8
55.1
52.6
71.2
78.6
73.5
69.9
78.6
82.0
73.3
96.3
93.5
91.9
96.4
95.9
86.6
78.0
84.4
86.9
92.5
95.0
96.1
90.5
95.8
99.5
100.3
104.8
84.4
81.4
82.7
127.1
132.4
97.2
123.8
97.3
97.2
107.9
130.2
125.1
105.3
121.7
107.4
131.2
106.4
114.6
118.1
103.1
103.6
110.7
122.3
115.2
107.7
114.4
99.6
117.6
105.1
105.7
109.8
91.4
101.5
98.2
107.1
100.4
101.7
68.8
15.1
18.8
8.4
12.5
15.8
14.7
15.1
57.4
47.9
33.9
34.9
36.3
36.5
48.0
26.1
39.0
37.9
38.5
31.3
National currency basis
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
B e lgium ........................................................................
D e n m a rk......................................................................
F rance..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
N o rw ay.........................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m .... .....................................................
58.7
54.2
38.4
41.7
33.8
41.5
46.6
23.7
38.5
29.0
34.8
27.1
U.S. dollar basis
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
B e lgium ........................................................................
D e n m a rk......................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
Netherlands.................................................................
N o rw ay.........................................................................
S w eden........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
58.7
59.4
28.5
30.0
29.5
41.6
25.9
33.7
25.1
21.7
30.1
43.6
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
B e lgium ........................................................................
D e n m a rk......................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
Nonway.........................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
92.9
88.6
87.7
86.5
94.6
88.5
90.1
91.1
86.2
96.8
100.2
94.9
102.0
110.6
108.6
116.9
113.9
106.7
112.7
101.8
111.0
122.0
112.6
124.8
116.9
107.0
113.2
107.0
129.6
119.4
109.8
116.5
113.5
104.8
107.4
129.8
105.7
106.6
102.9
104.9
115.1
106.7
97.7
98.4
93.6
137.3
120.2
125.2
119.2
135.7
127.5
117.2
125.5
123.2
O u tp u t
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
B e lgium ........................................................................
D e n m a rk......................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G e rm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
Nonway.........................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
88.6
84.9
89.9
86.2
92.7
95.0
90.0
91.0
86.9
92.7
101.0
106.1
96.3
110.1
104.6
106.6
115.4
106.6
98.8
104.0
91.7
110.1
108.3
104.0
102.4
113.4
105.0
97.4
102.6
111.5
92.5
121.2
179.3
119.9
123.4
103.3
122.0
126.7
103.0
110.1
112.8
118.0
116.0
105.2
115.3
95.2
121.9
117.3
107.0
115.2
96.2
98.7
97.8
103.8
108.3
74.8
105.7
75.9
86.4
82.2
81.1
100.6
86.2
100.1
101.7
105.5
101.1
101.2
102.0
89.6
98.0
94.6
98.1
98.7
93.6
92.6
92.3
90.1
82.8
93.4
90.3
94.6
92.2
91.2
91.3
88.9
80.6
92.9
95.2
101.7
81.4
94.5
85.2
91.0
87.5
132.4
131.3
120.7
130.4
135.9
148.5
125.6
160.2
123.6
128.0
133.6
167.4
145.2
151.1
129.8
144.5
149.7
172.0
134.5
198.4
129.1
142.8
148.1
193.9
157.5
167.0
136.6
150.7
162.9
203.9
141.0
238.3
137.5
156.0
158.9
209.3
162.4
177.2
140.7
159.7
174.2
225.2
148.3
282.8
144.0
173.5
173.3
224.4
168.0
185.5
144.9
173.0
184.4
247.3
155.5
314.5
150.0
188.3
189.7
238.8
176.9
194.7
152.0
184.9
196.1
267.3
164.9
347.3
157.7
204.8
212.4
254.6
182.7
202.3
157.3
191.8
207.7
279.2
172.5
362.1
161.5
224.6
228.1
273.5
145.0
168.1
98.9
107.8
144.9
179.9
124.4
208.4
113.0
148.0
138.1
182.2
142.2
158.8
95.0
142.4
162.6
92.9
116.3
165.7
200.9
128.1
236.9
108.7
163.5
156.1
189.0
141.8
169.4
93.5
117.6
173.2
205.9
132.1
244.1
142.4
126.5
104.3
70.2
93.9
141.8
129.5
148.7
94.3
128.4
146.2
141.3
144.5
111.9
129.8
104.9
164.9
86.4
T o ta l h o u rs
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
B e lgium ........................................................................
D e nm a rk......................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
N o rw ay.........................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
102.8
138.4
101.0
124.4
127.3
101.8
100.6
104.6
101.4
101.0
101.2
101.6
95.4
107.6
104.3
105.9
101.5
99.0
103.3
101.7
104.3
99.0
60.0
55.1
53.5
56.1
52.1
67.5
43.7
60.5
54.5
54.2
47.5
85.1
78.9
84.2
79.0
81.0
76.5
84.5
70.2
82.2
77.2
77.3
76.0
92.1
90.3
90.7
89.5
90.4
88.7
91.3
84.2
91.9
91.5
88.3
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
71.0
63.4
52.3
57.8
55.4
52.5
67.4
36.0
60.7
46.4
47.7
38.9
73.7
66.5
66.4
67.9
67.4
63.4
80.3
48.1
74.3
57.6
57.2
49.8
91.7
89.1
96.0
91.2
85.6
86.5
93.8
77.1
95.4
79.7
77.1
80.2
94.9
95.3
96.2
93.9
92.1
93.3
94.6
85.1
96.0
89.1
90.0
89.1
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
117.0
116.2
98.8
105.0
115.7
117.0
107.3
121.9
104.1
108.2
108.3
134.1
130.6
133.7
98.4
109.4
71.0
64.5
39.1
41.7
44.4
46.7
42.9
50.6
41.2
34.5
41.1
53.5
73.7
70.6
65.6
62.7
67.2
70.2
70.4
73.1
65.6
53.4
58.7
70.0
91.7
93.1
86.7
89.1
89.6
99.3
88.7
104.3
92.8
81.4
83.2
94.9
102.7
86.9
87.2
91.5
96.1
87.3
90.5
89.1
86.9
92.3
92.1
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
117.0
105.4
121.3
128.3
132.0
135.2
135.9
129.5
127.4
113.8
112.9
163.1
130.6
121.5
116.8
134.3
129.0
156.4
147.9
141.4
134.1
129.3
125.3
219.2
104.3
88.0
88.6
86.1
101.2
86.0
84.5
69.0
C o m p e n s a tio n p e r h o u r
United S ta te s ..............................................................
Canada ........................................................................
Japan ...........................................................................
B e lgium ........................................................................
D e nm a rk......................................................................
France ..........................................................................
G erm any......................................................................
Ita ly ...............................................................................
N etherlands.................................................................
Nonway.........................................................................
S w e d e n ........................................................................
United K ingdo m ..........................................................
36.5
27.5
8.9
13.8
12.6
88.8
120.1
137.4
U n it la b o r c o s ts :
121.0
134.3
115.7
137.0
108.5
120.0
118.6
164.5
140.1
146.7
148.7
170.0
102.0
101.2
113.2
131.1
151.0
111.4
142.2
167.2
125.2
184.0
115.2
142.1
136.3
184.4
121.2
158.9
110.4
133.4
130.9
181.2
112.1
155.4
191.6
125.8
217.8
106.8
152.0
144.8
183.9
111.6
180.5
167.3
196.1
U n it la b o r c o s ts :
Data not available.
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
102.0
140.1
130.0
123.8
109.6
110.3
136.4
124.9
123.2
108.9
123.6
115.4
210.2
148.7
146.3
108.8
87.2
102.3
124.9
119.7
119.9
105.8
117.1
96.9
184.8
145.0
144.9
111.5
75.5
95.1
116.1
113.1
142.2
130.3
107.2
69.5
90.1
107.8
102.6
110.0
101.1
121.1
109.5
81.6
99.1
78.2
140.9
109.6
80.4
101.3
81.1
140.5
97.1
107.9
80.4
158.3
MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW
48.
April 1988 •
Current Labor Statistics:
Illness and Injury Data
Occupational injury and illness incidence rates by industry, United States
Incidence rates per 100 full-time workers 2
Industry and type of case 1
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
P R IV A T E S E C T O R 3
Total c a s e s .............
Lost workday cases
Lost w o rkda ys........
9.4
4.1
63.5
9.5
4.3
67.7
8.7
4.0
65.2
8.3
3.8
61.7
7.7
3.5
58.7
11.6
5.4
80.7
11.7
5.7
83.7
11.9
5.8
82.7
12.3
5.9
82.8
5.9
6.1
12.0
6.1
86.0
90.8
11.5
6.4
143.2
150.5
10.5
5.4
137.3
14.6
7.6
3.4
58.5
7.9
3.6
64.9
7.9
3.6
65.8
11.4
5.7
91.3
11.2
90.7
5.6
93.6
8.4
4.5
125.1
9.7
5.3
160.2
8.4
4.8
145.3
7.4
4.1
125.9
14.8
6.3
118.2
15.5
6.9
128.1
15.2
128.9
15.2
6.9
134.5
15.4
6.9
121.3
6.8
6.6
120.4
122.7
8.0
3.7
63.4
A g r ic u ltu r e , fo r e s tr y , a n d fis h in g 3
Total c a s e s .........................................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ..........................................................
Lost w o rkda ys....................................................................
11.8
11.9
M in in g
Total c a s e s ...............................................
Lost workday c a s e s ................................
Lost w o rkda ys..........................................
11.4
11.2
6.8
6.5
163.6
146.4
15.7
6.5
117.0
15.1
6.3
113.1
11.6
6.2
C o n s tr u c tio n
Total c a s e s ......................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ......................................
Lost w o rkdays.................................................
General building contractors:
Total c a s e s ......................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ......................................
Lost w o rkda ys................................................
Heavy construction contractors:
Total cases................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ......................................
Lost w o rkda ys................................................
Special trade contractors:
Total c a s e s ......................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ......................................
Lost w o rkdays................................................
16.0
6.4
109.4
120.4
15.9
6.3
105.3
15.5
6.5
113.0
6.1
14.1
5.9
14.4
6.8
111.2
107.1
112.0
113.0
16.6
6.7
123.1
16.3
6.3
117.6
14.9
106.0
15.1
5.8
113.1
122.4
14.9
6.4
131.7
14.5
6.3
127.3
14.7
6.3
132.9
16.0
6.9
124.3
15.5
6.7
118.9
15.2
14.7
6.6
111.0
6.6
6.2
119.3
118.6
14.8
6.4
119.0
15.8
7.1
130.1
15.4
7.0
133.3
15.6
7.2
140.4
13.2
5.6
84.9
13.3
5.9
90.2
11.5
5.1
82.0
10.2
10.0
10.6
5.4
86.7
4.4
75.0
4.3
73.5
4.7
77.9
10.4
4.6
80.2
4.7
85.2
22.6
11.1
20.7
178.8
175.9
18.6
9.5
171.8
17.6
9.0
158.4
16.9
8.3
153.3
18.3
9.2
163.5
19.6
9.9
172.0
18.5
9.3
171.4
18.9
9.7
177.2
17.5
6.9
95.9
17.6
7.1
99.6
16.0
15.1
13.9
5.5
85.6
14.1
5.7
83.0
15.3
6.4
101.5
15.0
6.3
100.4
15.2
6.3
103.0
16.8
7.8
126.3
133.7
17.0
7.5
123.6
134.7
16.6
6.2
110.9
15.8
16.2
6.8
16.3
15.1
6.0
6.0
115.7
6.2
15.4
6.2
6.8
15.2
14.9
M a n u fa c tu r in g
Total c a s e s .......................................................
Lost workday c a s e s .......................................
Lost w o rkda ys.................................................
12.2
10.6
D u r a b le g o o d s
Lumber and wood products:
Total c a s e s .......................................................
Lost workday cases ........................................
Lost w o rkdays..................................................
Furniture and fixtures:
Total c a s e s .......................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w o rkda ys..................................................
Stone, clay, and glass products:
Total c a s e s .......................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w o rkda ys..................................................
Primary metal industries:
Total c a s e s .......................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w o rkda ys..................................................
Fabricated metal products:
Total c a s e s ........................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w o rkda ys...................................................
Machinery, except electrical:
Total c a s e s ........................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w orkdays...................................................
Electric and electronic equipment:
Total c a s e s ........................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w o rkda ys...................................................
Transportation equipment:
Total c a s e s ........................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w o rkdays..................................................
Instruments and related products:
Total c a s e s ........................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w o rkdays...................................................
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries:
Total c a s e s ........................................................
Lost workday c a s e s ........................................
Lost w o rkda ys...................................................
See footnotes at end of table.
114
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19.3
10.8
16.8
8.0
17.3
8.1
6.6
6.2
97.6
91.9
15.0
7.1
128.1
13.0
13.1
13.6
122.2
6.1
112.2
6.0
112.0
6.6
120.8
13.9
6.7
127.8
13.6
6.5
126.0
15.2
7.1
128.3
14.4
6.7
121.3
12.4
5.4
12.4
5.4
103.4
13.3
12.6
13.6
6.1
101.6
5.7
113.8
125.5
18.5
15.3
6.4
102.5
10.7
4.2
14.1
6.9
112.4
19.9
8.7
124.2
118.4
17.5
7.5
109.9
14.4
5.4
75.1
14.7
5.9
83.6
13.7
5.5
81.3
12.9
5.1
74.9
8.7
3.3
50.3
8.6
8.0
3.4
51.9
3.3
51.8
11.5
5.1
78.0
11.6
10.6
5.5
85.9
4.9
82.4
8.0
6.9
8.0
15.1
115.3
96.5
16.1
6.7
104.9
66.0
9.8
3.6
58.1
10.7
4.1
65.8
7.4
3.1
48.4
6.5
2.7
42.2
2.6
6.8
2.8
41.4
45.0
9.8
4.6
78.1
9.2
4.0
72.2
8.4
3.6
64.5
68.8
6.1
6.3
9.3
4.2
16.3
6.9
16.0
110.1
115.5
10.8
4.2
69.3
10.7
4.2
72.0
6.4
2.7
45.7
6.4
2.7
49.8
9.0
3.9
71.6
9.6
4.1
79.1
5.3
2.3
42.2
7.2
6.8
5.2
2.7
41.8
5.6
2.3
37.0
5.4
2.8
2.1
2.2
2.2
40.0
6.5
2.7
39.2
5.2
2.6
37.0
35.6
37.5
37.9
11.8
11.7
4.7
67.7
10.9
4.4
67.9
10.7
4.4
68.3
9.9
4.1
69.9
9.9
4.0
66.3
10.5
4.3
70.2
9.7
4.2
73.2
4.5
66.4
6.1
6.8
10.2
4.3
70.9
48. Continued— Occupational injury and illness incidence rates by industry, United States
Incidence rates per 100 full-time workers 2
Industry and type of case 1
1979
1978
1981
1980
1984
1983
1982
1986
1985
N o n d u r a b le g o o d s
Food and kindred products:
16.5
16.7
16.7
8.1
8.1
8.0
131.6
138.0
137.8
6.5
3.0
42.8
7.7
3.2
51.7
7.3
3.0
51.7
6.7
2.5
45.6
7.6
7.4
8.0
2.8
2.8
53.8
51.4
3.0
54.0
7.5
3.0
57.4
7.8
3.1
59.3
34.9
35.0
36.4
6.4
2.4
40.6
6.7
2.5
40.9
6.7
2.2
6.0
2.1
6.7
2.7
49.4
11.6
10.6
10.0
108.4
12.7
5.8
112.3
5.4
103.6
4.9
99.1
4.5
90.3
10.4
4.7
93.8
4.7
94.6
10.5
4.7
99.5
7.1
3.1
45.1
6.9
3.1
46.5
6.7
3.0
47.4
6.6
2.8
6.6
45.7
2.9
44.6
6.5
2.9
46.0
6.3
2.9
49.2
6.5
2.9
50.8
7.8
3.3
50.9
7.7
3.5
54.9
6.8
6.6
3.1
50.3
3.0
48.1
5.7
2.5
39.4
5.5
2.5
42.3
5.3
2.4
40.8
5.1
2.3
38.8
6.3
2.7
49.4
7.9
3.4
58.3
7.7
3.6
62.0
7.2
3.5
59.1
6.7
2.9
51.2
5.3
2.5
46.4
5.5
2.4
46.8
5.1
2.4
53.5
5.1
2.4
49.9
7.1
3.2
67.5
17.1
17.1
6.2
127.1
100.9
101.4
13.6
6.4
104.3
13.4
6.3
107.4
14.0
6.0
125.5
14.6
7.2
117.4
13.0
8.2
15.5
7.4
118.6
12.7
8.1
118.2
11.7
4.7
72.5
11.5
4.9
76.2
11.7
5.0
82.7
11.5
5.1
82.6
9.9
4.5
86.5
10.0
4.4
87.3
10.5
4.7
94.4
10.3
4.6
88.3
10.5
4.8
83.4
9.4
5.5
104.5
9.0
5.3
8.5
4.9
96.7
8.2
8.8
8.6
8.2
100.6
4.7
94.9
5.2
105.1
5.0
107.1
102.1
7.4
3.2
48.7
7.3
3.1
45.3
7.2
3.1
45.5
7.2
3.1
47.8
7.4
3.3
50.5
7.4
3.2
50.7
7.7
3.3
54.0
129.3
16.5
7.9
131.2
3.9
56.8
7.2
3.2
44.6
8.8
3.2
59.2
17.8
16.7
8.6
8.0
130.7
8.1
8.2
3.8
45.8
19.4
8.9
132.2
19.9
9.5
141.8
18.7
9.0
136.8
8.7
4.0
58.6
9.3
4.2
64.8
10.2
3.4
61.5
9.7
3.4
61.3
9.1
3.3
62.8
6.5
6.5
6.4
6.3
2.2
2.2
2.2
32.4
34.1
13.5
5.7
103.3
13.5
7.0
2.9
43.8
Tobacco manufacturing:
Textile mill products:
Apparel and other textile products:
2.6
44.1
Paper and allied products:
6.0
10.2
Printing and publishing:
Chemicals and allied products:
Petroleum and coal products:
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products:
6.6
Leather and leather products:
T r a n s p o r t a t io n a n d p u b lic u tilitie s
10.1
10.0
5.7
102.3
5.9
107.0
7.9
3.2
44.9
8.0
3.4
49.0
8.9
3.9
57.5
8.8
8.2
4.1
59.1
3.9
58.2
7.7
3.6
54,7
7.1
3.4
52.1
7.0
3.2
50.6
7.2
3.5
55.5
7.2
3.5
59.8
7.2
3.6
62.5
7.7
3.1
44.7
7.1
2.9
44.5
7.1
2.9
41.1
7.2
2.9
42.6
7.3
3.0
46.7
7.5
3.2
48.4
7.5
3.1
47.0
7.8
3.2
50.5
2.1
2.0
2.0
2.0
.9
13.2
12.8
1.9
.9
13.6
2.0
.8
11.6
.9
12.5
2.0
.8
12.2
1.9
.9
13.3
.9
15.4
.9
17.1
5.5
2.4
36.2
5.5
2.5
38.1
5.2
2.3
35.8
5.0
2.3
35.9
4.9
2.3
35.8
5.1
2.4
37.0
5.2
2.5
41.1
5.4
45.4
5.3
2.5
43.0
4.8
W h o le s a le a n d re ta il t r a d e
Wholesale trade:
Retail trade:
7.5
2.8
39.7
F in a n c e , in s u r a n c e , a n d r e a l e s ta te
2.1
.8
S e r v ic e s
1 Total cases include fatalities.
2 The incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses or lost
workdays per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as:
(N/EH) X 200,000, where:
N = number of injuries and illnesses or lost workdays.
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2,6
EH = total hours worked by all employees during calendar year.
200,000 = base for 100 full-time equivalent workers (working 40 hours per
week, 50 weeks per year.)
3 Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees since 1976.
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