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Subject: U.S. Unemployment Rate Dips Slightly to 7.4 Pct.; Decline Is Attributed to
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 08:40:52 EST
Message-ID: <42.1992Nov7.084053@AmeriCast.com>

U.S. Unemployment Rate Dips Slightly to 7.4 Pct.; Decline Is At-
tributed to Fewer Job Seekers<John M. Berry=Washington Post Staff
Writer=

 The nation's unemployment rate fell last month to 7.4 percent,
dropping a tenth of a percentage point for the fourth month in a
row not because there are many more jobs but because the number
of Americans seeking them has dropped, the Labor Department re-
ported yesterday.

 Private payrolls rose by 66,000 last month with the gains coming
in construction, largely as a result of rebuilding in the wake of
hurricanes Andrew and Iniki, and in services, according to the
Labor Department's survey of businesses. Manufacturing payrolls,
on the other hand, fell another 56,000, bringing losses in that
sector in the past year to 337,000 jobs.

 Analysts described the report as "mixed," with pockets of
strength and weakness, and consistent with a slowly expanding
economy that is showing few signs of faster growth.

 The job market has "clearly improved from the early parts of
this recession when we were shedding hundreds of thousands of
jobs a month," said William Barron, acting commissioner of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics. "But, clearly, for an extended period
now, really I think all of this year, we are not seeing much of
an improvement."

 In Little Rock, Ark., President-elect Clinton said through a
spokesman that the new jobless figures are "a step in the right
direction," but also a sign that "our economy is not creating
enough jobs."

 "As I said many times in the past, creating new jobs and getting
our economy moving again will be my top priority as president,"
Clinton said.

 Since the national survey of households, on which the labor
force and unemployment rate figures are based, was taken in the
second full week of October, the weekly level of initial claims
for unemployment benefits has dropped, suggesting that labor
market conditions may be improving at least slightly.

 But the decline in the unemployment rate from its seasonally ad-
justed peak of 7.8 percent in June to last month's 7.4 percent
has not been due to any such improvement, Labor Department offi-
cials stressed in testimony before the congressional Joint
Economic Committee yesterday.

 Barron said the labor force has shrunk by about 600,000 over the
past four months, reversing an unexpected surge in its size that
began late last year. He added that the Labor Department has no
explanation for why the size of the labor force has bounced up
and down as it has, taking the unemployment rate with it.

 Most of the workers who have left the labor force have been
adult women, Barron said. Most presumably have left voluntarily
because there was only a small 23,000 increase in the number of
so-called discouraged workers - the 1.15 million persons who said
in September that they were not looking for a job, and therefore
were not counted as unemployed, because they thought no job was
available. Discouraged workers are counted only in the final
month of each quarter.

 Since the level of employment has held almost steady since June,
as the size of the labor force fell so did the number of jobless
- people actively seeking work but unable to find it - from al-
most 10 million to 9.3 million.

 Allen Sinai, chief economist of the Boston Co., told the Joint
Economic Committee that while there are some recent positive
signs for the economy, such as gains in new car sales and falling
unemployment claims, the outlook remains poor.

 "The best that can be expected for the rest of 1992 and 1993 is
weak, sluggish, but positive, growth in the United States and
most major industrialized countries, with subdued inflation and
high unemployment rates," Sinai said.

 According to the Labor Department report, part of the 66,000
rise in private business payrolls last month was offset by a drop
of 39,000 in government jobs. Most of that drop was due to a
large number of early retirements in the U.S. Postal Service,
which, like many businesses, is cutting payrolls to hold down
costs.  Some experts pointed to a solid 45,000 job gain among
firms providing services to other businesses as an indication
that business activity could be picking up.

 In addition to the small rise in private payrolls, the length of
the average workweek at businesses increased to 34.5 hours from
34.3. In manufacturing, which shed 56,000 jobs, the workweek went
to 41.1 hours from 40.9 as overtime jumped to 3.8 hours from 3.4.

 In the Washington area, where unemployment figures run a month
behind the national ones and are not seasonally adjusted, unem-
ployment rates rose slightly in most of the jurisdictions, ac-
cording to reports released yesterday.

 The D.C. Department of Employment Services said the metropolitan
area rate rose in September by 0.2 percentage points to 5.1 per-
cent. The rate for the District of Columbia went up by a tenth of
a percentage point to 8.4 percent and that for suburban areas by
two-tenths to 4.7 percent.

 In Maryland, the Department of Economic and Employment Develop-
ment said the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent from 6.6 per-
cent in September, reflecting a normal seasonal pattern. The job-
less rate in the Baltimore metropolitan area was 7.6 percent, un-
changed from August.<02:30 11-07C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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poration (usa@AmeriCast.COM)