Labor Department

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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

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

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...

With Jobless Numbers, 'Recovery Appears to Be Underway'

But debate continues between GOP, Dems on whether to extend unemployment stimulus relief

(Newser) - America has started its economic recovery process, reopening businesses in phases across the nation, and the labor market numbers are beginning to reflect that. Per a Thursday release from the Department of Labor, the number of people drawing unemployment benefits for the week ending May 30 fell to 20.9...

Millions More Join the Ranks of the Unemployed

20% of US workers have filed for unemployment aid

(Newser) - Another 3.2 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total over seven weeks to 33.5 million—or one in five Americans who were employed as of February, per the AP . Economists had predicted 3 million claims, Reuters reports. The week ending May 2 was the...

Turns Out We Weren't Adding 200K Jobs a Month

Department of Labor revises job gains figures, with 501K fewer than previously estimated

(Newser) - It's not uncommon for the Department of Labor to revise job growth numbers. It actually does so annually, when, instead of using the surveys that help form those initial estimates, it reviews unemployment insurance records in each state to come up with more accurate figures. What is uncommon is...

Report: 200K Jobs Added by US Employers in January

And wage growth is at fastest rate in 8 years

(Newser) - US employers added a robust 200,000 jobs in January, and wages rose at the fastest pace in more than eight years. The pay gains suggest employers are competing more fiercely for workers. Raises stemming from Republican tax cuts and minimum wage increases in 18 states also likely boosted pay....

Trump Announces His New Labor Secretary Pick

It's Alexander Acosta, former NLRB member

(Newser) - A day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his name from consideration as Labor secretary, President Trump has announced his replacement pick, Reuters reports. Trump will nominate Alexander Acosta, who served as assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division under former President George W. Bush and has also served as a...

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