Tag Archives: employment

The New York Times reports: More than 6.6 million people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, setting a grim record for the second straight week. Added to 3.3 million claims for the week ending March 21, it means nearly 10 million people have filed for unemployment benefits in two weeks. The speed and …

NPR reports: A record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country. The Labor Department’s report Thursday was one of the first official indicators of how many people have suddenly been forced out of work nationally. The staggering claims figure was well above the levels seen during the darkest …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is asking state labor officials to delay releasing the precise number of unemployment claims they are fielding, an indication of how uneasy policymakers are about further roiling a stock market already plunging in response to the coronavirus outbreak. In an email sent Wednesday, the Labor Department instructed state officials to only “provide …

Business Insider reports: Google is recommending that all of its tens of thousands of North American employees work from home, its latest move to try and protect its employees from the growing coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday, the Silicon Valley-based search giant sent out a memo to its workforce informing that it was now changing its policies to recommend all workers …

The Hill reports: The U.S. added 273,000 jobs in February, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department, blowing past expectations ahead of a feared coronavirus economic slump. The unemployment rate stayed roughly even at 3.5 percent while the labor force participation rate held steady at 63.4 percent. February’s job gain comes after an upwardly revised increase of 273,000 …

The Associated Press reports: One of the nation’s largest labor unions is unveiling plans to invest $150 million in a nationwide campaign to help defeat President Donald Trump, a sweeping effort focused on eight battleground states and voters of color who typically don’t vote. The investment marks the largest voter engagement and turnout operation in the history of the Service …

Axios reports: U-Haul will not hire people who use nicotine products in 21 states beginning Feb. 1 in an attempt “to establish one of the healthiest corporate cultures in the U.S. and Canada,” the company announced in a statement. The ACLU considers anti-nicotine hiring policies “discriminatory” and a violation of worker privacy, but smokers are not a protected class under …

Politico reports: The PBS NewsHour/POLITICO debate among Democratic presidential candidates appears poised to proceed as scheduled on Thursday, after the national party organization helped broker a last-minute resolution to a labor dispute that had threatened to upend the televised forum. All seven White House contenders who qualified for the debate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles threatened Friday to …

Bloomberg News reports: U.S. job gains roared back in November as unemployment matched a half-century low and wages topped estimates, giving the Federal Reserve more reason to hold interest rates steady after three straight cuts. Stock futures and the dollar jumped while Treasuries slid. Payrolls jumped 266,000, the most since January, after an upwardly revised 156,000 advance the prior month, …

Agence France-Presse reports: Several Indonesian ministries are banning pregnant, disabled, or LGBT job hunters in favour of what one called “normal” applicants, the Ombudsman said Friday, slammed as “arbitrary and hateful restrictions” by a rights group. The report comes as the world’s biggest Muslim majority country takes applications from millions of candidates who are applying for some 200,000 civil-service jobs …

Just in via press release: National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, announces today that it will endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Nurses cite how Sanders’ leading platform closely aligns with nurses’ values on a whole host of issues, including rebuilding America’s labor movement to restore workers’ rights and his trailblazing leadership …

The New York Times reports: The American job market has lost some momentum, but a major auto strike was not enough to knock it off the road in October. Ordinarily, a gain of 128,000 jobs would count as a weak month. But the figure looks stronger accounting for the strike at General Motors, which shaved close to 50,000 workers from …

The Chicago Tribune reports: The Chicago Teachers Union is on strike and teachers have joined picket lines at schools across the city this morning after the union’s House of Delegates on Wednesday rejected Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Board of Education’s latest proposals. The CTU said it plans to resume contract negotiations with city officials at 9:30 a.m. at …

CNBC reports: General Motors and union leaders have reached a tentative deal on a new labor contract that could end the United Auto Workers’ month-long strike against the automaker, the UAW said Wednesday. Details of the proposed deal were not immediately available. However, the union’s roughly 48,000 members with GM are expected to receive raises and bonuses as part of …

Reuters reports: U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared divided over whether a landmark decades-old federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in the workplace protects gay and lesbian employees as they heard arguments in one of the biggest cases of their current term. Liberal justices signaled sympathy toward arguments that gay workers are covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights …

Roll Call reports: The Supreme Court confronts a major civil rights issue Tuesday over how broadly the justices should read the word “sex” in a 55-year-old anti-discrimination law — and a key aspect is Congress’ current push to clarify that the law covers LGBT individuals. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits private companies from discriminating against …

USA Today reports: Hiring slowed in September as employers added 136,000 jobs, fueling recession concerns and possibly raising the odds of another Federal Reserve rate cut this month. The unemployment rate fell from 3.7% to 3.5%, a new 50-year low, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists expected 145,000 job gains, according to a Bloomberg survey. Partly offsetting the weak showing: …

The Indianapolis Star reports: The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday issued a Statement of Interest in support of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in its ongoing dispute with a former Catholic school teacher who alleges he was wrongfully terminated because he was in a same-sex marriage. Joshua Payne-Elliott is currently suing the archdiocese, alleging it illegally interfered with his contractual …

CNBC reports: The United Auto Workers union plans to strike against General Motors following the two sides not reaching a tentative deal before a Saturday night deadline. The strike, depending on its length, could easily cost GM hundreds of millions of dollars. The last time the union declared a strike at GM was in 2007. The two-day work stoppage was …

NPR reports: U.S. employers added 130,000 jobs in August, according to a monthly snapshot from the Labor Department, signaling a slowdown in the pace of job growth. Forecasters surveyed by the Reuters news service had predicted job gains of around 158,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%. Manufacturers added just 3,000 jobs. The jobs total would have been lower …