This Day In 1970's History: Friday February 2, 1979
- The jobless rate declined to 5.8 percent of the nation's work force in January, slightly below the December rate, but without significant change over the last six months. The number of employed people rose to 96.3 million, reflecting in part increased employment of women, blacks and teenagers. Most of the unemployed were blacks: 7.8 percent of black men were without jobs, as were 10.6 percent of black women and 32.7 percent of black teenagers.
There are "glaring weaknesses" in the way unemployment statistics are calculated in state and municipal reports, a national commission said. One of the remedies it proposed would be an appropriation of funds that would be used to train state and municipal officials in statistical reporting. [New York Times]
- Americans are buying anything that might gain in value while the dollar shrinks. They are hedging against inflation, with investments in gold, silver, land, houses, violins, old tools, artworks and antiques. Hedging might be one reason land and home prices continue climbing, while interest rates, which in theory are supposed to put a damper on those prices, soar. [New York Times]
- Attorney General Griffin Bell decided that "no further investigation or prosecution is warranted" into charges that President Carter or a White House aide illegally solicited contributions to the Democratic Party at a White House luncheon last August, the Justice Department said. The department's investigation followed a magazine report that two businessmen had given a total of $125,000. [New York Times]
- Boston's Charlestown Navy Yard has been purchased by a consortium of international developers who plan to convert the 57-acre naval center, decommissioned in 1974, into a residential complex, with a hotel, marina and commercial area. [New York Times]
- Finding potentially favorable voters has been made possible and tested positively with sophisticated accuracy by a group made up of two political consultants and a demographic research expert. The system combines attitudinal polling, computer technology and the use of census data. [New York Times]
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