Established in 1915, Monthly Labor Review is the principal journal of fact, analysis, and research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor.

Each month, economists, statisticians, and experts from the Bureau join with private sector professionals and State and local government specialists to provide a wealth of research in a wide variety of fields—the labor force, the economy, employment, inflation, productivity, occupational injuries and illnesses, wages, prices, and many more.

The May Review

Although May is often associated with flowers following April’s showers, it also is the month that brings the annual holiday known as Memorial Day. This day of remembrance for the sacrifices of America’s military began shortly after the Civil War as “Decoration Day,” a day each year during which supporters of the Union side in that conflict decorated the graves of their fallen soldiers with those May flowers. The holiday we now know attained its current identity in the wake of World War I as a reminder of all the fallen from all the wars.

Each war, of course, also has survivors. Mention of the First World War brings to mind Mr. Frank Buckles, America’s last living World War I veteran, who is 107 years old. (If he had been born a couple of months earlier, he would have the remarkable distinction of having lived in three centuries.) There is considerable interest today in the circumstances of those soldiers who have served since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on American soil.

Information on the labor market status of veterans has long been collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), one of the Nation’s principal sources of timely socioeconomic data. For the first time, as James A. Walker notes in the visual essay that leads off this issue, CPS data are available that allow for the separate identification of those veterans who have served since the September 11 attacks, or in the “Gulf War-era II” period. Previously, all Gulf War-era veterans (including those who served in the earlier Gulf conflict that began in 1990) were grouped together into one category.

Data for 2006 indicate that there were 1.2 million veterans 18 to 54 years old who served on active duty in this most recent period of service. Using a series of charts, Walker examines the age, sex, race, educational attainment, and employment status of these recent vets. Throughout, he also compares their statuses with those of the nonveteran population of the United States.

It is clear that the U.S. economy slowed in 2007, on the basis of a number of measures. Not surprisingly, the labor market portion of the economy was not insulated from this phenomenon, with job growth decelerating and unemployment increasing. As Zhi Boon demonstrates in her article, BLS data show that job openings (one measure of labor demand) and separations and hires (representative of worker flows) all declined. The decline in the latter measure, was particularly reflective of the slowdown in the labor market. In addition to analyzing national-level aggregate statistics, Boon examines the data for a number of specific industries and finds that several— including construction and retail trade—had declining rates of job openings and hires; separations rates either were static or did not exhibit consistent trends.

Mark C. Long, Kristin M. Dziczek, Daniel D. Duria, and Edith A. Wiarda present evidence on the stability of wages and productivity in manufacturing plants during the 1987–97 period.

This quartet of authors argues that although plant-level wages and productivity were strongly correlated, the connection weakened during the period under review.

Download Monthly Labor Review, May 2008

PDF format, 1.39MB, 119Pages.

Volume 131, Number 5 May 2008

Employment characteristics of Gulf War-era II veterans in 2006: a visual essay
James A. Walker

Job openings, hires, and turnover decrease in 2007
Although the number of job openings, hires, and separations all declined in 2007, the labor market slowdown can be seen most in the decrease in hiring
Zhi Boon

Wage and productivity stability in U.S. manufacturing plants
Wages and productivity were substantially dispersed across all manufacturing plants in 1987, but the dispersion narrowed from then until 1997
Mark C. Long, Kristin M. Dziczek, Daniel D. Luria, and Edith A. Wiarda

Departments
Labor month in review 2
Précis 37
Book reviews 38
Errata: November 2007 issue 40
Current labor statistics 43

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The following departments appear in Monthly Labor Review with varying frequencies:

• Labor month in review summarizes the current issue each month and digests selected publications and news releases from the BLS. Read it for a quick overview of an issue's offerings and an update on what is new in labor statistics.

• The law at work explains legal decisions pertaining to the working world.

• Book reviews analyze the merits of today's hottest books for the Review audience.

• Précis briefly summarizes articles, newsletter items, reports, working papers, etc., from the tremendous amount of information that passes across the MLR editors' desks.

• Letters to the editor give readers an opportunity to hear other readers' opinions.

• At issue is a synopsis of a "hot topic" that will keep you "in-the-know."

• Regional trends present regional tabulations from the Current Population Survey.

• International report features accounts of economic and labor developments in other countries.

• Technical notes explain new statistical methodologies or programs conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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