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By Ray
Marshall
We have worked hard driving the last four years to strengthen the
quality and credibility of our labor statistics, which are becoming more
important not only for information, planning and program evaluation, but also
for the allocation of public funds and indexation in collective bargaining
contracts and other public and private purposes.
The major accomplishments of BLS during the Carter Administration
included a thoroughgoing review of labor force statistics by a Presidential
commission, completion of a comprehensive revision of the Consumer Price Index,
and expansion and improvement of several other economic measures produced by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Bureau published two consumer price indexes in January 1978: (1) An
updated version of the traditional CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
Workers and (2) a new CPI for All Urban Consumers.
The all urban CPI represented a significant increase in the coverage of
the noninstitutional civilian population — to about 80 percent — and
is designed to meet the need for an index with broad coverage arising from
increased use of the CPI in economic policy formulation and as an escalator of
income payments. It covers several groups historically excluded from the
traditional CPI. The revision program allows for additional geographic detail
and updated consumption weights, as well as improvements in timeliness, design
and collection.
Two other program improvements were initiated in the consumer price
area. A Continuing Consumer Expenditure Survey provided the basis for future
updating or revision of the CPI or the Family Budget programs and in addition,
will provide a previously unavailable source of data on consumer expenditures.
To meet criticisms of the homeownership component, the Bureau in January 1980
published five alternative, experimental measures.
In 1979, a nine member National Commission on Employment and
Unemployment Statistics issued a detailed examination of the Nation's labor
force statistics, finding the statistics generally sound but recommending a
number of improvements.
The Bureau expanded major revisions in the Industrial Price Program,
basing improvements in the Producer Price Index on stage-of-processing
analysis, and emphasizing transaction prices. Weights were revised, pilot
surveys completed, updated indexes for 28 industries were being published, and
measures for some 120 industries were being developed.
During 1980, the Bureau expanded its Employment Cost Index to measure
relative changes in total compensation (wages and salaries plus employee
benefits). Under development for several years, the expanded index will
eventually cover State and local government workers as well as the farming and
household sectors.
In the area of occupational safety and health statistics, the Bureau
introduced two major initiatives, even while greatly reducing the reporting
burden on employers. In the Supplementary Data System, some 36 states
cooperated to supply information on injuries and illnesses based on workers'
compensation records, thereby supplementing the annual survey by providing data
on a number of personal and occupational factors. The Work Injury Report,
meanwhile gathers information directly from employees injured in specific types
of accidents being studied by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Over the last four years, the Bureau has developed productivity
measurements for 35 additional industries so that its productivity measures
represent about 30 percent of the private nonfarm business sector.
In the International Price Program, indexes now cover around 60 percent
of the value of exports and 40 percent of the value of imports, and an
expansion program will bring both to around 80 percent in 1983. The Bureau also
conducted special analyses of imports from Japan and export trade with OPEC
countries for the use of U.S. negotiations and policymakers.
In the field of economic projections, the Bureau continued to develop
regular biennial projections of the labor force, industrial employment, and the
outlook for specific occupations. The Bureau published and was revising its
employment projections to 1990.
Finally, the high professional standards and independence of BLS has
been strengthened. We have scrupulously avoided any effort to interfere with
the Bureau's independence. This is absolutely essential if users are to have
confidence in the Bureau's statistics. We were fortunate to be able to maintain
leadership continuity from the previous Administration because of the fact that
Julius Shiskin, a very able Commissioner, was reappointed, and after his death,
we appointed his deputy, Dr. Janet Norwood, to succeed him. After a thorough
search, we concluded that Dr. Norwood was the very best person for the job.
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