__The AFL-CIO, pointing to new statistics from BLS that show membership in unions increased by more than 100,000 in 1998, says the organizing strategy laid out by the federation's leadership more than three years ago is working. At the same time, the Organizing Director noted that the labor movement is not growing enough to keep up with the economy's rate of job growth, which was 2.2 million new jobs created in 1998. According to the BLS statistics, the number of U.S. workers belonging to unions in 1998 grew from 16.1 million to 16.2 million, marking the first time in the last five years that membership outpaced the previous year's total. The density of union membership in the workforce, however, decreased from 14.1 percent in 1997 to 13.9 percent in 1998. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A13). __BLS announced that union membership grew by 100,000 last year, after three years of decline, causing the AFL-CIO to boast that its efforts to revive organized labor were beginning to pay off. ... (New York Times, page A20). __The number of workers who belong to labor unions grew slightly last year, the government said, but the percentage of unionized jobs continued to decline. ... Labor's biggest gains came among health-care workers, public employees, and service workers. It lost members in manufacturing and most other private sectors. ... (Wall Street Journal, page B2).
Health benefits costs rose 6.1 percent in 1998 - nearly twice as fast as the medical component of the CPI, ending five years of nearly flat cost growth, a survey of 4,181 U.S. employers by William M. Mercer shows. The average cost of covering active and retired employees rose to $4,164 in 1998, from $3,924 in 1997, survey data showed. The medical CPI increased 3.4 percent in 1998. Employers predict their costs will rise even faster in 1999 with 72 percent of employers polled anticipating cost increases averaging 9 percent, Mercer said. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-8).
Existing house sales set a record in 1998 for the third year in a row, thanks to low mortgage rates, strong job growth, and a rising stock market. Sales of existing single-family homes surged 13.5 percent to 4.79 million, beating 1997's record high of 4.22 million, the National Association of Realtors reported (Washington Post, page E6)_____Sales of existing single-family homes jumped 3.1 percent in December from November, as a strong economy, low mortgage rates, and warm weather spurred a flurry of purchasers. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2)
The Supreme Court rejected the federal government's plan for using a controversial counting method to estimate portions of the nation's population in the 2000 Census, ruling in a case that carries enormous political and economic consequences for communities around the country. By a 5 to 4 vote, the justices said federal law prevents the administration from supplementing the Census Bureau's traditional procedure of trying to reach every household with statistical estimates that would be used to determine the nation's population and divide seats in Congress among the states. But beyond the crucial apportionment purpose of the census, the court did not foreclose allowing "statistical sampling" for other important purposes, such as the drawing of political boundaries within each state and the allocation of federal funds for everything from road construction to housing for the poor. ... (Washington Post, page A1)_____Dealing a bitter blow to Democratic hopes, the Supreme Court ruled today that the official census for 2000, which will be used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives, must be conducted by the traditional head count. ... (New York Times, page 1)_____In a political setback for the Clinton administration, the Supreme Court limited the use of statistical sampling in the 2000 census, a method that Democrats argued would help to account for some minorities and others who historically have been hard to count. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2)