Economic Performance

SAGINAW, Mich. - They had already clocked out for the day, one employee said, but an announcement over the PA system called them back: We need help tidying the purse department. Another employee said she would punch out for lunch but be asked to stop during her break and compare prices at a competing store or pick up some office supplies. The complaints may seem like so much petty grumbling - 15 minutes of off-the-clock work here, an abbreviated lunch there. But when the company accused of incrementally shorting its workers of wages is Wal-Mart, the country's largest employer, with more than 1 million "associates" nationwide, the potential for free labor could add up to untold millions of dollars - out of the pockets of people who are already at the bottom of the pay scale and can least afford it. That the phenomenally profitable retailer would make such nickel-and-dime intrusions on their time was bad enough, employees say, but what particularly rankled was how they would then have to ask over and over again simply to be paid for the extra work.

PRESIDENT CLINTON stood all alone at the peak of the Group of Seven economic summit this weekend, which is just where he wanted to be, in spite of some buffeting gusts against American trade bullying.In remarks directed equally to his fellow government leaders in Lyon, France, and to his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, the president could brag that the U.S. had created 9.7 million jobs since he took office, while the other six nations accounted only for a paltry 300,000.The strong U.S. performance has coincided with dismal tidings from overseas.

With the arrival of a new year, the American economy seems to be on a solid projectory from a technical recovery to a real one marked by consumer and business confidence. The consensus is that gross domestic product will grow somewhat more than 3 percent while inflation stays low and unemployment actually dips below the 6 percent mark. Shadows on the horizon are across the seas, in Japan and Europe, where a dismal outlook means less demand for U.S. exports and an increasing trade deficit for this country.

Also yesterday, it was incorrectly reported that Standard & Poor's Corp. raised its rating on $516 million of state of Maryland general obligation bonds. In fact, Standard & Poor's raised its rating on $516 million of Baltimore County general obligation bonds to AAA. Maryland general obligation bonds are already rated AAA.The Sun regrets the errors.Standard & Poor's Corp. yesterday raised its ratings on certain Maryland state and Baltimore County bonds to AAA in a move that the rating agency said reflects "a deep and broad economy that continues to exhibit diversification."

The recently inaugurated regular service to South America by Ladeco Chilean Airlines adds an important new dimension to Baltimore-Washington International Airport. It is now possible for Marylanders to fly -- or ship cargo -- from BWI to Santiago three times a week and then continue directly to Buenos Aires and Montevideo.This new, long-awaited South American route is a significant step in BWI's development into a truly competitive international gateway. This can only benefit the region's economy.

The economies of both Baltimore and Washington sagged in the spring of this year, Grant Thornton, a national accounting and management consulting firm, said yesterday. .Baltimore fared a little better than Washington, however, in terms of retail sales, and its overall economic performance was better than the average of the 24 cities included in the latest quarterly economicsurvey, called the Grant Thornton Index.The index is based on six economic indicators -- factory hours, non-farm employment, construction permits, retail sales, business starts and business failures -- and the national money supply, commonly called the M2.Its base measurement of 100 was calculated on those seven statistics as they stood in January 1985, said John Koegel, a Grant Thornton spokesman in New York.

If there's one thing the Schaefer administration knows how to do exceptionally well it is promote economic development. This was borne out again yesterday when Gov. William Donald Schaefer signed a "memorandum of understanding" with Kuwaiti officials to give Maryland a clear advantage in gaining port and air freight business from companies involved in rebuilding Kuwait. It was a real coup for the governor, and for the state's depressed economy.This novel accord illustrates why Maryland shared highest ratings in the nation in a recent study compiled by the Corporation for Enterprise Development, a non-profit economic consulting and research firm.

TULSA, Okla. -- Just one day after President Clinton unveiled the broad outlines of his health overhaul plan, Senate Republican leader Bob Dole demonstrated yesterday how hard it will be to make the measure law when he objected to the White House's ideas for financing the proposal.Speaking to the same audience of the nation's governors that heard Mr. Clinton describe his plan, Mr. Dole asserted he was not being obstructionist. Indeed, the Kansas Republican devoted much of his 30-minute address to a call for the political parties to put aside differences and work together on revamping the health care system.

WASHINGTON -- Top administration economists have stoutly rejected suggestions by Federal Reserve officials that the central bank not consider cutting short-term interest rates because of fear that this could fuel an unwanted speculative bubble in stocks and bonds.The economists said near-record stock and bond levels in no way constituted a bubble, but were rather a justified response to lower interest rates, which they said were fostered by lower inflation and President Clinton's deficit-reduction efforts.

WASHINGTON -- Practice is supposed to make perfect, but in the case of President Clinton's State of the Union speech, too much rehearsal has ruined the follow-up act.Yesterday, because of a voice so hoarse that he couldn't speak, Mr. Clinton canceled several appearances designed to bolster the points he made in Tuesday's address, including a planned trip to General Motors Corp.'s Broening Highway plant in Baltimore.The president also postponed an evening sojourn to Piney Point in St. Mary's County, where he was supposed to speak to more than 150 House Democrats meeting at an issues conference.