Labor

On-The-Job Deaths Continue At Steady, Grim Pace

Howard Berkes — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:37:00 +0000

Dying on the job continues at a steady pace according to the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The fatal injury rate for American workers dropped slightly in 2011 — the most recent year with reported numbers — from 3.6 to 3.5 deaths per 100,000 workers.

But 4,693 men, women and teenagers died at work. That's three more than the total number of lives lost on the job in 2010.

BLS says it's the third-lowest death toll since counting began in 1992.

Jobless Claims Rose Slightly Last Week

Mark Memmott — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:55:00 +0000

There were 352,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, up by 4,000 from the week before, the Employment and Training Administration reports.

The "4-week moving average" that gauges the trend rose by 2,750, to 361,250.

Bloomberg News characterizes the news this way: "The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits was little changed last

The Jobs Report Puzzle

Uri Berliner — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:23:00 +0000

Lots of people are surely looking at today's jobs headlines somewhat puzzled, asking one significant question: How can it be that hiring was much worse than expected in March and the unemployment rate still fell — to 7.6 percent?

The answer isn't a happy one.

NYT Excerpt: An Existential Crisis For U.S. Labor Unions

Jacob Goldstein — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:34:00 +0000

In his New York Times Magazine column this week, Adam Davidson looks at the future of organized labor. He writes:

For decades, the growth of technology and the global market has created an existential crisis for U.S. labor unions. While the country's manufacturing output continues to grow steadily, it no longer produces significant job growth.

Court Ruling Upsets Conventional Wisdom On Recess Appointments

Carrie Johnson — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:12:00 +0000

In a bombshell decision on the limits of executive power, a federal appeals court panel in Washington, D.C., has invalidated President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.

Legal experts say the court's reasoning upends decades of conventional wisdom and deals a big victory to Senate Republicans in an era of congressional gridlock.

The case was brought by a Pepsi-Cola bottling company in a fight with a union.