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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hank Stamper who wrote (9148)	10/8/1999 10:24:00 AM
From: Wally Mastroly	Respond to of 15132

Re: ..hurricane effect on jobs data... The impact of the storm may indeed "cloud" the data - however: usatoday.com - Excerpts: "..The service sector, normally the driving force of job creation in the United States, suffered a decline of 9,000 in September, reflecting a drop of 49,000 jobs at retail businesses. Government analysts said that job loss was particularly heavy where businesses were forced to close because of Hurricane Floyd, which raked the East Coast in September. ...But even without the hurricane, there was widespread weakness as department stores cut 17,000 jobs,the fifth consecutive monthly loss. - Of course, any heavy holiday spending by consumers could reverse the service sector data. - but on the inflation side: "..Even with the weak job growth, wage pressures accelerated in September. Average hourly earnings, a key gauge of inflation pressures, grew by 0.5% to $13.37 in September, much sharper than the 0.2% increase in August. While strong wage growth is a good development for workers, economists and members of the Federal Reserve worry that it could be a recipe for sparking inflation. Their fear: Employers foraging for qualified workers woo them with higher wages and benefits, costs likely to drive up consumer prices if not constrained by other forces..." - There should be another jobs report out before the next FOMC meeting (Nov. 16th) - which may give more visibility of any trends.