Labor Department

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Inflation Rate Falls Again to 3-Year Low

Cooling inflation seen as a potential boost to Kamala Harris' presidential campaign

(Newser) - Inflation in the US dropped last month to its lowest point since it first began surging more than three years ago, adding to a spate of encouraging economic news in the closing weeks of the presidential race. Consumer prices rose just 2.4% in September from a year earlier, down...

The Fed Just Got a Big High Sign to Cut Interest Rates

US inflation cools for 5th month in a row

(Newser) - The post-pandemic spike in US inflation eased further last month as year-over-year price increases reached a three-year low, clearing the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next week. Wednesday's report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices rose 2.5% in August from a year...

Jobs Report Shows 'Another Healthy Month of Hiring'

America's employers added 206K jobs in June, a strong gain despite pullback from May's numbers

(Newser) - America's employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in June, adding 206,000 jobs and once again displaying the US economy's ability to withstand continually high interest rates. Last month's job growth did mark a pullback from 218,000 in May. But it was still a strong...

Girl Worked 60-Hour Weeks Making Parts for Hyundai: Feds

Lawsuit claims car maker, a subsidiary, and a staffing agency profited illegally in Alabama

(Newser) - She worked up to 60 hours a week making car parts for Hyundai. According to the feds, she was just 13. The Labor Department sued Hyundai on Thursday, accusing the company of using child labor at the SMART Alabama factory in Luverne, which supplies parts for Hyundai's assembly line...

Sanitation Firm Fined $650K for Hiring Kids to Clean Factories

Fayette Janitorial Service has also agreed to no longer hire minors to work in meatpacking plants

(Newser) - A Tennessee-based sanitation company has agreed to pay more than half a million dollars after a federal investigation found it illegally hired at least two dozen children to clean dangerous meat-processing facilities in Iowa and Virginia. The US Department of Labor announced Monday that Fayette Janitorial Service LLC entered into...

OSHA: Poultry Plant Directly Responsible for Death of Worker, 16

'The company's inaction has directly led to this terrible tragedy'

(Newser) - A Mississippi poultry plant's failure to follow procedures led to the death of a 16-year-old boy who was sucked into a machine in July last year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday. Mar-Jac Poultry, which supplies chicken to Chick-fil-A, has been cited for 14 serious violations and...

Gas Prices Drive Latest Inflation Increase

Labor Dept.'s new report is a mixed bag, with signs of continued cooling in consumer prices

(Newser) - A spike in gas prices pushed up inflation in August, yet most other costs rose at a more modest pace, evidence that consumer price increases overall are still cooling. In a set of conflicting data on Wednesday, the Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 3.7% in August...

Restaurant's Fake Priest Just Cost It $140K
Restaurant's
Fake Priest Just
Cost It $140K
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 24, 2023 4:15 PM CDT

Restaurant's Fake Priest Just Cost It $140K

California eatery had workers confess their 'sins' in 'most shameless' plot to intimidate them, per DOL

(Newser) - It may have seemed a bit unconventional for a priest to show up at their place of employment to offer confession, but workers at the Taqueria Garibaldi restaurant in Sacramento took the holy man up on the chance to admit their "sins." Now, the owners of the Northern...

Investigators Find 10-Year-Olds Working, Unpaid, at McDonald's

Labor Department fines three franchisees

(Newser) - Federal investigators say they found three McDonald's franchisees to be violating child labor laws, infractions that included working two 10-year-olds without pay until 2am. The franchisees, who operate a total of 62 locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio, were employing 305 children working hours beyond the legal limits...

In First Veto, Biden Blocks Tossing Rule on Investments
Biden Veto
Survives
House Vote
updated
Mar 23, 2023 6:10 PM CDT

Biden Veto Survives House Vote

Outcome preserves rule letting retirement funds consider social and climate factors when investing

(Newser) - A House vote on whether to override President Biden's first veto fell short of the two-thirds majority needed on Thursday, keeping a Labor Department rule on investments by retirement funds intact. The 219-200 vote means the Senate will not take the veto up, NBC News reports. Senate Majority Leader...

DOL: Firm Hired Kids to Work Overnight Shifts in Risky Jobs

Packers Sanitation Services hit with $1.5M fine for allegedly hiring minors to clean meatpacking plants

(Newser) - The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 bars all minors from working with certain hazardous equipment; prohibits kids who are 14 and 15 from working past 7pm, or for more than three hours a day; and mandates that children under the age of 14 can't work at all. Now,...

Labor Sec, SOTU's 'Designated Survivor,' Said to Be Quitting

Marty Walsh reportedly leaving White House for NHL

(Newser) - US Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is expected to leave the Biden administration to run the National Hockey League Players’ Association, according to two people familiar with his plans who spoke to the AP . The hockey players' union has been searching for a new executive director to take over for Don...

Hiring Streak in US Sets an 80-Year Record

We've had 11 straight months with gains of more than 400K jobs

(Newser) - Despite red-hot inflation , US employers kept hiring at a solid pace in March. The key numbers:
  • Jobs: Employers added 431,000 jobs for the month, coming in a bit shy of expectations of about 490,000. However, the Wall Street Journal points out this marks 11 straight months with gains
...

In Return to Jobs, a Huge Gender Gap

BLS stats show 1M-plus men went back to job market in Jan. amid pandemic; only 39K women did

(Newser) - The pandemic struck a huge blow to the American workforce, but January's jobs report brought some hopeful news, with employers adding 467,000 jobs last month. But the news appears to be better for men than for women, per Axios , which cites a "jaw-dropping" gender disparity in labor...

A Big Sign That the US Economy Is on the Upswing

684K filed for unemployment benefits last week in the US, the lowest number since pandemic began

(Newser) - The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 684,000, the fewest since the pandemic erupted a year ago and a sign that the economy is improving. Thursday's report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell from 781,000 the week before. It'...

Bars, Restaurants Give a Jolt to February Hiring

Employers overall added 379K jobs, and unemployment fell to 6.2%

(Newser) - The new unemployment report is out, and the numbers are stronger than expected. The highlights:
  • New jobs: Employers added 379,000 jobs in February, above expectations of 210,000, reports the Wall Street Journal . The figure is well above the 49,000 jobs gained in January.
  • The rate: The unemployment
...

'Year-End Victory' for Restaurants May Not Please Servers

Labor Dept. says employers can mandate tipped workers share their tips

(Newser) - New changes to Labor Department rules are being called a "year-end victory" for the restaurant industry, per the National Restaurant Association—though servers who rely on tips to boost their sub-minimum-wage pay may not be giving it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Fox Business reports on a revision made final Tuesday...

GAO: Weekly Unemployment Numbers Flawed

Government watchdog finds Labor Department has been providing an inaccurate reading

(Newser) - A government watchdog has found that the Labor Department’s widely watched weekly unemployment benefits data are providing an inaccurate reading on the number of newly laid off workers because of flaws in the government’s data collection. The Government Accountability Office said in a report Monday that the Labor...

Another Rose Garden Attendee Tests Positive

Trish Scalia, wife of labor secretary, sat beside Kellyanne Conway

(Newser) - The wife of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who attended the Rose Garden event where Amy Coney Barrett was announced as President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Patricia "Trish" Scalia sat behind first lady Melania Trump and next to former White House counselor Kellyanne...

A Welcome Milestone on Jobless Claims

New claims drop below 1M for first time since March

(Newser) - Layoffs continue five months into the pandemic, but there is a silver lining. Unemployment claims dropped below 1 million last week for the first time since March. There were 963,000 new filings for state unemployment benefits in the week ending Aug. 8—a drop of 228,000 claims from...

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