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blacknewsdig5 est uniNEtWSe S fartome the DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, D.C. 20210 Week of January 20, 1992 IN THIS ISSUE: THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: DECEMBER 1991 PRODUCER PRICE INDEXES -- DECEMBER 1991 FILLERS FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REGIONAL INFORMATION OFFICES The U.S. Department of Labor operates through 10 regional offices located in major cities across the country. If you want a local angle ona news or feature story provided through this service--or have a direct news inquiry--you may contact one of the offices listed below. This listing includes thenames, addresses and telephone numbers of the Regional Directors for Public Affairs and the States in their regions: Region I John M. Chavez Region VI....Sherrie Moran Room 724 Connecticut It Congress St, Arkansas 555 Griffin St. Dallas, TX 75202 Maine Boston, MA 02114 Louisiana 214-767-4776 Massachusetts 617-565-2072 New Mexico New Hampshire Oklahoma Rhode Island Texas Vermont Region I] Chester Fultz Region VII...Patrick A. Hand 201 Varick St. Room 2509 New Jersey Room 605 A Iowa Federal Office Bldg. New York -= New York, NY 10014 Kansas 911 Walnut St. Puerto Rico 212-337-2319 Missouri Kansas City, MO 64106 Virgin Islands Nebraska 816-374-5481 Region III John P. Hord Region VIII..Ernest E. Sanchez Room 14120 Room 1468 Delaware 3535 Market St. Colorado Federal Bldg. Distfict of Philadelphia, PA 19104 Montana 1961 Stout St. Columbia 215-596-1139 North Dakota Denver, CO 80294 Maryland South Dakota 303-844-4235 Pennsylvania Utah Virginia Wyoming Region IV Dan Fuqua Region IX....Joe B. Kirkbride Room 317 Suite 1035 Alabama 1371 Peachtree St., N.E. Arizona 71 Stevenson St. Florida Atlanta, GA 30357 California San Francisco, CA 94105 Georgia 404-347-4495 Hawaii 415-744-6673 Mississippi Nevada North Carolina South Carolina . Tennessee Kentucky Region V John D0. Mellott Region X Mike Shimizu Room 3192 Room 805 Illinois 230 S. Dearborn St. Alaska 1111 Third Ave. Bldg Indiana Chicago, IL 60604 Idaho. Seattle, WA 98101 Michigan 312-353-6976 Oregon 206-442-7620 Minnesota Washington Ohio Wisconsin Week of January 20, 1992 THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: DECEMBER 1991 WASHINGTON--The unemployment rate for black Americans rose from November's 12.3 percent to 12.7 percent in December, according to the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, the nation's unemployment rate rose from 6.9 percent in October and November to 7.1 percent in December. For black men, unemployment rose from 10.7 percent in November to 11.5 percent in December. Unemployment for black women remained constant, at 11.3 percent. Black teens’ unemployment rate jumped from 35.1 percent to 36.0 percent. For black teen men, the rate decreased from 36.4 percent in November to 35.7 percent in December. Black teen women showed an increased rate of joblessness, from November's 33.8 percent to 36.3 percent for December. ° 6 d ta) The number of unemployed persons rose by 290,000 in December to 8.9 million (after seasonal adjustment), and the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage point to 7.1 percent. Prior to December, the unemployment rate had held at about 6.8 percent between May and September before edging up to 6.9 percent in October and November. Since the recession began in July 1990, the jobless total has grown by 2.1 million and the unemployment rate has risen 1.7 percentage points. (See table A-1.) Jobless rates for adult men (6.6 percent) and adult women (6.1 percent) edged up in December. Rates for teenagers (19.3 percent), whites (6.3 percent), blacks (12.7 percent), and Hispanics (9.7 percent) were little changed over the month, though mostly in an upward direction. (See tables A-1 and A-2.) Nearly all of the December increase in unemployment occurred among persons who had lost their last jobs, primarily those who had no expectation of being called back to work. Since July 1990, the total number of job losers (including those on layoff anticipating recall) has increased by 1.8 million. Job losers accounted for 56 percent of the unemployed in December. (See table A-6.) Long-term unemployment (15 weeks and over) rose by 220,000 in December to a level of 2.8 million; the long-term unemployed accounted for about 1 out of every 3 unemployed persons in December, up from1 in 5 at the onset of the recession. Most of the over-the-month increase in long-term unemployment was accounted for by persons jobless for 6 months or longer. BLACK NEWS DIGEST - 1/20/92 EMPLOYMENT SITUATION P.2 HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA Table &-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, age, and Hispanic origin (Numbers in thousands) Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted’ Employment status, race, sex, age, and Hispanic origin ae o- 1991 1991 WHITE Civilian noninstitutional population 162,047 | 160,942 | 161,642 | 161,738 | 161,846 | 161,949 Civilian labor force soe 107,172 | 107,398 | 107,220 | 107,593 | 107,632 | 107,599 Participation rate ote ‘ , ; 66.7 66.3 ‘ i 66.4 aoe 101,704 | 100,716 100,977 63.2 62.3 : . 62.4 5,694 6,504 6,622 . 6.1 : , 6.2 Civilian labor force 56,246 Participation rate .. ae ; ’ A . Tar sees 52,931 73.1 3,315 5.9 Women, 20 years and over Civilian labor force 45,263 Participation rate .. 4 P i : , 57.6 43,000 Employment-population ratio . . i ‘ ; 54.7 2,263 5.0 5,711 53.6 4,785 45.0 926 16.2 16.9 15.5 Civilian noninstitutional population Civilian labor force Employment-population ratio Unemployment rate Men, 20 years and over Civilian labor force Employment-population ratio .... Unemployment rate Women, 20 years and over Civilian labor force Participation rate . Unemployment rate Both sexes, 16 to 19 years Civilian labor force Participation rate Employment-population ratio Unemployed Unemployment rate ... See footnotes at end of tabie. Week of January 20, 1992 ePRODUCER PeRICE INDEeXES--DECEeMe B ERea t19t91 WASHINGTON -- The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods moved down 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted from November to December, the a of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reports. This index rose 0.2 percent in November. The Intermediate Goods Price Index also declined 0.2 percent in December after an adv of 0.2 nercent a month earlier. Prices received by domestic prsoitdeu cers of crude materials fell 2.2 perce nt following increases in November and October. Among finished goods, consumer food prices decreased more than in the preceding month, and the energy index turned down after showing no change in November. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy moved up 0.2 percent, a little less than in the month before. Before seasonal adjustment, the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods fell 0.3 percent in December to close the year at 121.9 (1982=100). From December 1990 to December 1991, the Finished Goods Price Index edged down 0.1 percent; in 1990, this index climbed 5.7 percent. The downturn was chiefly due to the index for finished energy goods, which retreated 9.6 percent in 1991 after soaring 30.7 percent in 1990. Consumer food prices also dropped in 1991 (-1.6 percent) after increasing the year before (2.6 percent). Price increases for finished goods other than foods and energy slowed to 3.1 percent in 1991 following a rise of 3.5 percent a year earlier. The Intermediate Goods Price Index moved down 2.6 percent from December 1990 to December 1991 in the wake of a 4.3 percent advance in 1990. Crude material prices, up 6.0 percent in 1990, were off 11.6 percent in 1991. Week of January 20, 1992 FILLERS FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR The Interstate Job Bank, which feeds information to state employment service offices, lists 20,000 job openings during any given week of the year. During a year, approximately 97,000 job openings are distributed through the system. yf fF About one third of the 97,000 jobs listed each year through the national Interstate Job Bank are managerial and professional occupations, with about 12 percent in structural and 19 percent in clerical and sales occupations. The median salary for all jobs listed in the Interstate Job Bank, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and used by all state employment service offices, is $20,000 a year. The Interstate Job Bank, which lists job openings throughout the country for employment service offices in each state, provides information on job openings in the private sector, Federal and armed services and U.S. Forest Service seasonal and temporary openings. The Interstate Job Bank also lists vacancies in airlines and the Federal Senior Executive Service. or. F e aaa aIRaEaERR Sete St ae aleep ierce wana Aint rn h A . . ieee 5 z ’ 5 Te s G P ‘ ; ; :: : 4 5 a : et 4 co r ae