Chairman PROXMIRE. Isn't it true-I think President Nixon deserves a lot of credit for phasing out the Vietnam war. Of course, a lot think it should have been done faster, but I am not talking about that. The fact is, he knew that we were demobilizing people from Vietnam, cutting back to some extent in our defense expenditures, and under the circumstances we knew these people were coming on the job market. and it would seem to me that sensible leadership on the part of the White House would have provided economic opportunities to meet that available manpower. Mr. GORDON. Well, I think that is right. I am reluctant to get into what would essentially be a political debate which would carry me outside of my competence as a professional economist, but certainly more could have been done to plan for creating jobs to absorb those who were going to be thrown out of work. It wouldn't have been easy. It would involve problems of matching jobs against displaced men in particular occupations involved and particular geographical areas involved. It would not have been easy; and let me repeat, it would have called for the cooperation of the Congress. Representative BROWN. Not to mention fiscal problems. Mr. GORDON. Part of what I mean by the cooperation of the Congress. You would have had to appropriate money. Chairman PROXMIRE. Well, as you know, we have almost $12 billion appropriated and unspent. Senator Sparkman cited some of that problem, although I would agree that we would have to be more generous than that. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Gordon, for a superb job. You are one of the finest witnesses we have had in the years I have been on this committee. You have done an excellent job. We are most grateful to you. Chairman PROXMIRE. The committee will stand adjourned. (Thereupon, at 12:10 p.m., the committee recessed, to reconvene at the call of the Chair.) CURRENT LABOR MARKET DEVELOPMENTS FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1971 1 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, The committee met, pursuant to recess, at 10:05 a.m., in room 1202, New Senate Office Building, Hon. William Proxmire (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Senators Proxmire and Miller. Also present: John R. Stark, executive director; James W. Knowles, director of research; Loughlin F. McHugh, senior economist; Lucy A. Falcone and Jerry J. Jasinowski, research economists; Ross F. Hamachek, Richard F. Kaufman, and Courtenay M. Slater, economists; George D. Krumbhaar, Jr., minority counsel; and Walter B. Laessig, economist for the minority. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PROXMIRE Chairman PROXMIRE. The hour of 11 a.m., having arrived, we are going to place a call to the Department of Labor, for this reason: After a long history of monthly press conferences announcing the employment-unemployment figures, the practice was discountinued about 3 months ago. Many of us have a fundamental disagreement with that action. First, we believe that the public business should be conducted in public. What the Government needs, at all levels and in the legislative as well as the executive branch, is more information, not less. We need more open hearings and less closed hearings. And we need more public announcements of events rather than secret actions or partial information. Second, as the employment-unemployment statistics are among the most important and most controversial, there is a great need that everyone have confidence in both the way they are developed and the interpretation cost on them. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has an unparalleled reputation for honesty, objectivity, and playing it straight. We know the figures are as accurate as it is possible to get them. When the BLS puts them out, we have found in the past that their summary and their interpretation of them have been held in the highest regard by objective experts and professional economists of every political and economic persuasion. 1 This hearing day was held in conjunction with the hearing day of June 4, 1971, before the Subcommittee on Priorities and Economy in Government, Joint Economic Committee, entitled "The Economics of National Priorities," pt. 1, June 1, 2, and 4, 1971. Third, there is no other way, sare though the press conference, that a full and complete picture can be given fairy to all elements of the press and public. The substitution of almost any other technique means, in my judgment, that there is more chance for uneven interpretation and selective judgments. To overcome these difficulties, the feet that the press conference has been discontinued, we asked the Labor Department to send their technical expert- before the Joint Economic Committee, so the committee could question them. They did that once, but only once. The following mouth, last month, they refused to do it. We did fortunately have an outstanding expert, Professor Gordon, who is one of the leading experts, I guess the leading expert in the country in this area. He testified. But the Labor Department refused to do it. The superiors of the experts have refused to let them appear here until several hours after the figures are made public, And by that time, of course, the interpretation is cold, because the interpretation, as we all know, in this modern age of news has to follow quickly upon the release of the figures. I think that is a great mistake on the part of the Labor Department, both because it was a method of getting the information out, and an objective interpretation of the figures, before the public quickly, and also because this committee, under the Employment Act of 1946, has n legal and continuing responsibility over the questions of employment, unemployment, economic growth, prices, and the state of the economy. In order to get the information about employment and unemployment promptly, I intend now to place a call to the experts at the Labor Department and to put a series of questions to them. That call is now being placed by Mr. McHugh. The line is busy over there. As I say, I intend to put to them a series of questions about the meaning of the unemployment figures today. We were unable to get a picture of Mr. Goldstein, who is the expert we are trying to reach. We did get a smiling and attractive picture, however, of Secretary Hodgson the Secretary of Labor, Mr. Goldstein's superior. So we placed that here in the hearing room. And so as we talk to Mr. Goldstein, you know that he speaks under the jurisdiction of Secretary Hodgson, but he speaks as an independent expert and not with the voice of Secretary Hodgson. It is my hope that in the future the White House, the Secretary of Labor, and the political appointees at the Labor Department will reconsider their move to abolish the press conference, will reinstate it in order that we may get the information faster and more conveniently. And now we have got a line through. Senator MILLER. Mr. Chairman, may I ask a question? Is there any danger that the telephone call might be bugged? Chairman PROXMIRE. This is one telephone call we don't have to worry about. We are bugging it ourselves. Last month we were told by the Labor Department that this was the most efficient way to handle it. If it is, we obviously need a change up in the Labor Department. First the line was busy, and now the young lady says that she doesn't know anybody by that name. Senator MILLER. This reminds me of the time in my own home city of Sioux City, Iowa, when they inaugurated the direct dial system. They had it all set up, but the direct dialing wouldn't go through, and they had to put the long distance call through the other way. Chairman PROXMIRE. While we are waiting, for the benefit of those who are here, let me read from the release this morning. Employment rose moderately while the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged between April and May, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The overall unemployment rate was 6.2 percent compared with 6.1 percent in April. After rising steadily throughout 1970, the jobless rate reached a nine-year high of 6.2 percent in December. Since then, however, unemployment has shown little month-to-month movement, with the rate dipping in the first two months of the year but subsequently returning to the December level. Total employment rose 265,000 in May (seasonally adjusted), returning to the alltime peak reached in March 1970. Non-farm payroll employment also advanced over the month, with trade accounting for most of the pickup. A small increase in manufacturing employment in May was accompanied by a rise in the factory work week, returning it to the March level. The actual number of unemployed persons, which usually declines between April and May, dropped 300,000 this May to 4.4 million. After seasonal adjustment, however, unemployment edged up by 130,000 over the month. Jobless rates for most major labor force groups showed little change in May. The rates for all adult men (4.5 percent) and for married men (3.3 percent) were not significantly different from their April levels; both were close to their sevenyear highs reached in December 1970. The unemployment rate for women 20 years and over, at 6.0 percent in May, was unchanged over the month at its highest mark since October 1961. However, the rate for 20-to-24-year-old women continued its sharp rise of recent months, increasing from 10.3 percent in April to 11.5 percent in May, the highest level in more than a decade. (Chairman Proxmire picks up telephone receiver.) Chairman PROXMIRE. Can you hear me? They said, "Don't call us, we will call you.' Let me continue with the news release: The unemployment rate for teenagers, at 17.3 percent, also was unchanged in May. The teenage rate has shown little change since reaching the 17 percent mark in the fall of 1970. The jobless rate for workers covered by State unemployment insurance programs, however, moved up from 3.9 percent in March and April to 4.3 percent in May, seasonally adjusted. After reaching a 1970 high of 4.6 percent during the automobile strike, the State insured rate had fallen to 3.7 percent by February. Jobless rates in May for both Negro and white workers were about the same as in April. At 10.5 percent, the Negro unemployment rate was not significantly changed over the month but was up from 9.4 percent in March and at its highest point since November 1963. Joblessness among adult Negro women increased again in May (to 10.6 percent), continuing the upward trend in evidence since the beginning of the year. The rate for whites was 5.7 percent in May, its highest level since September 1961. (Chairman Proxmire picks up telephone receiver.) Chairman PROXMIRE. Hello. This is Senator Proxmire of the Joint Economic Committee speaking. I have some questions for you, if you will answer them for us, on the unemployment figure that you released this morning. To whom am I speaking? |