21.   Economists offer several reasons why wage pressures now are less than in past periods of low unemployment.

22.   Economists say gains in productivity can offset wage pressures and keep manufacturers from raising their prices.

23.   Even more, the economy is well into its seventh year of expansion, and although wage pressures have begun to rise, inflation has not.

24.   Falling energy costs and the easing of wage pressures due to layoffs made inflation less of a problem.

25.   Fed officials have recently expressed concern that wage pressures will translate into accelerating inflation.

26.   For now, though, David Levy said, the United States is short of workers, not jobs, and wage pressure is likely to push up inflation.

27.   For one thing, evidence from the past suggests that wage pressures build slowly.

28.   He said it indicated that there was no increase in wage pressures.

29.   Healthy job markets traditionally create wage pressures that spur inflation.

30.   However, the Fed cited a lessening of wage pressures in the Dallas and Kansas City districts.