The economy added 119,000 jobs in September, an unexpected rebound for the labor market — but it comes as the overall economy shows signs of slowing.
Economists were expecting 50,000 jobs to have been added and an unemployment rate that remained at 4.3%, according to FactSet.
Delayed for seven weeks due to the government shutdown, the latest snapshot of America’s job market showed that unemployment rose in September to the highest level in nearly four years.
In addition, August’s tepid job gains of 22,000 were revised to a job loss of 4,000 jobs and July was revised down by 7,000 jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday.
The health care and social assistance sector continued to drive overall employment growth. Those sectors added an estimated 57,100 jobs in September, accounting for nearly half of the overall gains. Leisure and hospitality contributed 47,000 jobs during a month with unseasonably warm weather.
Jobs were lost in sectors such as transportation and warehousing (-25,300), temporary help services (-15,900) and manufacturing (-6,000).
Although the September employment data has been on the shelf since early October, it provides a critical snapshot of the labor market at a time when tariffs, stubborn inflation and elevated interest rates continue to slow the US economy.
Summer of job losses
Plus, Thursday’s report might very well be the last clean jobs report for a couple of months, since the shutdown mucked up the finely tuned process of data collection and analysis during October and part of November. The BLS on Wednesday announced that there will not be a separate October jobs report published but instead some of that data will be included in the November report scheduled for December 16.
Despite the stronger-than-expected September gains, this year is still on pace for the weakest employment growth since the pandemic and, before that, the Great Financial Crisis.
“The job market was really weak in the summer, and it didn’t improve much in September,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Credit Union. “What we learned today is that both June and August had negative job growth, so, shedding jobs; 119,000 is pretty good for September, but when you step back, the average (monthly job gain) of the past four months is in the low 40,000s.”
“So, it looks very weak,” she added.
Unemployment, a closely watched recession indicator, ticked higher in September, rising to the highest rate since October 2021.
However, driving the jobless rate higher was an increase in the labor force – primarily an uplift in more people looking for work, versus a sharp increase in layoffs, BLS data shows.
Low-fire, low-hire, low-opportunity market
The job gains remain heavily concentrated. Two sectors – health care and social assistance, and leisure and hospitality – accounted for 87% of September’s job growth.
But in a labor market that’s been in a low-hire, low-fire slog, there are also few opportunities for those seeking work. On average, it’s taking people six months to find work, according to the latest BLS data.
The latest unemployment claims data supports that trend: In a separate report on Thursday, the Labor Department reported that an estimated 1.974 million people filed continuing claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended November 8, hitting a fresh four-year high.
Initial claims, which are considered the best proxy for layoff activity, fell to 220,000 last week, remaining well below more concerning thresholds (300,000 to 400,000 range, consistently).
“If I had to characterize it, it still looks a lot like ‘no-hire, no-fire,’” Long said. “I do worry, given the number of industries that are starting to fire, that this is starting to look like ‘no-hire, start-to-fire.’”
‘Cold water’ for a Fed cut
Despite the mixed bag of data, the September report “could throw cold water” on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates further when it meets in December, Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, wrote in a note on Thursday.
“The sharp rebound in employment gains, up 119,000 in September following the downwardly revised negative 4,000 print in August soothes concerns that the labor market was on the precipice of a large downturn and removes urgency for another rate cut,” she wrote.
Still, because of the historic government shutdown, the September jobs report will be the freshest official monthly employment snapshot available when the Fed makes its next interest rate decision on December 10. The partial October and full November data won’t come out until the following week.
On Feb. 14, 2022, a Starbucks manager pulled Michaela Sellaro aside for a meeting.
Just a few weeks earlier, Sellaro and a group of her fellow baristas at the coffee shop at 2975 East Colfax Ave. in Denver informed the company’s CEO that they planned to organize a union.
In the early afternoon, at a table by the windows, the store and district managers sat Sellaro down for a chat. The message, though light and breezy, was clear: “You know Starbucks’ stance is that we don’t need a union to represent our partners,” Kaylin Driscoll, the district manager, told Sellaro, according to a recording reviewed by The Denver Post.
Relationships with leadership will degrade if employees vote to organize, the managers told her. Promotions could be nixed. Benefits might change.
“The dynamic of having those conversations will change with a union,” said Ariel Rodriguez, the store’s manager, in the recording. “I have no personal desire to be part of a store that has to work through a union to have those conversations with you. I have zero interest in that.”
The East Colfax store, which the company has since closed, represents one of 18 Starbucks cafes in Colorado that have unionized since 2022, despite the Seattle-based coffee giant’s well-documented union-busting activity. What started with one unionized store in Buffalo, New York, in 2021 has blossomed into a nationwide movement encompassing 640 locations and thousands of workers around the United States.
Union supporter Pete DeMay of Chicago chants into a bullhorn along with other picketers during a labor organizing action at the Starbucks location at 2975 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver on Friday, March 11, 2022. (Photo by Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post)
Starbucks has nearly 18,300 locations, company-operated and licensed, across the U.S. and Canada. So far, despite the rapid growth in organizing, fewer than 4% of Starbucks workers are employed in unionized stores.
Starbucks has fought these efforts tooth and nail along the way. The National Labor Relations Board, which regulates private sector union activity in the U.S., has found the company illegally fired workers in response to organizing, closed stores because of union votes and engaged in widespread unfair labor practices designed to quash workers’ efforts.
The coffee conglomerate is the biggest violator of labor law in modern history, according to Starbucks Workers United, the national union representing company workers. The NLRB and its judges have found Starbucks has committed more than 500 labor law violations, the union says. Workers have filed more than 1,000 unfair labor practice charges, including more than 125 since January. More than 700 unresolved charges remain.
Despite the hundreds of union votes over the past four years, baristas are still working without a contract. This month, 92% of union workers voted to authorize an open-ended unfair labor practices strike ahead of the holiday season. The vote comes after six months of Starbucks “refusing to offer new proposals to address workers’ demands for better staffing, higher pay and a resolution of hundreds of unfair labor practice charges,” the union said in a news release.
On Nov. 13, more than 1,000 workers — from 65 stores in more than 40 cities, including Colorado Springs and Lafayette — walked off the job. The union said it was “prepared to continue escalating” its strikes if the company failed to deliver a new contract.
“Union baristas mean business and are ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract and end Starbucks’ unfair labor practices,” said Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks Workers United spokesperson and 15-year veteran barista. “We want Starbucks to succeed, but turning the company around and bringing customers back begins with listening to and supporting the baristas who are responsible for the Starbucks experience.
“If Starbucks keeps stonewalling, they should expect to see their business grind to a halt. The ball is in Starbucks’ court.”
The union’s push comes amid a wave of public support for organizing efforts. More than two-thirds of American adults approve of labor unions, according to Gallup polling, a level last reached in the 1950s and early 1960s. Support remains especially strong among young people — a demographic common for Starbucks baristas.
Starbucks representatives declined an interview request for this story. Sara Kelly, Starbucks’ chief partner officer, told employees in a letter this month that the company had bargained in good faith with the union, reaching more than 30 tentative agreements on full contract articles.
“Our commitment to bargaining hasn’t changed,” Kelly wrote. “Workers United walked away from the table, but if they are ready to come back, we’re ready to talk. We believe we can move quickly to a reasonable deal.”
Starbucks, she said, remains the best job in retail, paying, on average, $30 per hour for hourly workers once benefits are factored in.
The first Colorado union shop
But employees at Colorado’s first unionized cafe quickly learned the extent to which Starbucks would go to dissuade organizing efforts.
Harris didn’t know much about labor organizing, but she was intrigued. She and her colleagues were sick of the low compensation, of underscheduling and understaffing, and of not learning their weekly schedules until the night before.
Harris connected with the Buffalo workers over Twitter, and the resulting conversations helped launch the first Starbucks union efforts in Colorado.
Many of her colleagues were scared. One quickly told management about the plans.
Within a week, a rarely seen district manager suddenly showed up at the store, Harris said. Management organized an hour-long meeting about how the union was a bad idea, she said.
“They laid it on thick,” Harris said.
The day the workers officially filed with the NLRB, the Marshall fire broke out in Boulder County. As the blaze raged in Superior and Louisville, the Starbucks employees continued to work. Several staffers lost their own homes or were forced to evacuate.
Harris said she got a call that night from her manager, asking if she was OK. Then she said she was told to be at work first thing the next morning.
“It was a total exploitation of us,” Harris said.
As the vote neared, Starbucks amped up its anti-union activity, she said. Management initiated more two-on-one meetings with staff members. For many of the teenage baristas, this represented one of their first jobs. And here leadership was telling them that they wouldn’t be able to transfer stores or enjoy the perks that nonunion employees would receive, such as credit card tips.
Len Harris fires up the crowd during a rally at Trident Booksellers and Cafe in Boulder on Thursday, July 25, 2024. Harris helped to organize the first unionized Starbucks in Colorado, in Superior, before she was fired. (Matthew Jonas/Boulder Daily Camera)
“The individual intimidation was infuriating beyond belief,” Harris said. “I was sick to my stomach that they were taking advantage of these younger workers to terrify them.”
An executive flew in from Seattle and observed staff at work for weeks, Harris said. Management started cutting workers’ hours.
In April 2022, 12 of the 14 employees at the Superior location voted in favor of forming the union. The company, though, refused to negotiate with the newly formed body. So they went on strike in November, shutting down the store for the entire day.
The following day, Starbucks fired Harris, citing a policy about handling cash that she said she had never heard of. An administrative law judge with the NLRB later found the company had illegally fired Harris based on her union activity. She’s still waiting for tens of thousands of dollars in court-ordered back pay.
“I feel like I’ve gotten a peek behind the curtain to the levels of depravity that the company will sink to to take advantage of their employees,” she said.
The Starbucks playbook
The tactics Starbucks used to try to quash worker organizing in Superior are part of the playbook deployed by company leadership across Colorado and the rest of the country, according to interviews, NLRB documents and news reports.
Emily Alice Dinaro started organizing a Starbucks location on Denver’s 16th Street mall in 2022 because of what she saw as management’s failure to protect staff from violence, drug use and volatile customer interactions that were occurring daily.
After the union activity began, management started enforcing existing rules more strictly, while introducing new edicts, she said. Union supporters were singled out, and these new enforcement steps were used to push people out of the store, Dinaro said.
Out of the 26-person staff, 18 workers signed union cards, while 10 of them signed a letter to the Starbucks CEO informing him of their support. But the implementation of these new rules — concerning dress code, cell phone use and cash handling, among other things — forced widespread turnover at the store, Dinaro said. Only five people ended up voting in the union election, which passed successfully.
Dinaro was fired shortly after the vote over what the company said were repeated violations of its attendance and punctuality policy. In 2024, an NLRB judge ruled that Starbucks had fired her illegally due to her union activity.
“When I first started at Starbucks, I thought they were an outstanding, virtuous company,” Dinaro said. “I’ve come to learn they just have an outstanding PR team.”
Starbucks barista Brenna Bellfield holds roses, a symbol of the labor movement, in front of the unionized East Colfax location of Starbucks in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, Jan. 2022. (Eli Imadali/Special to The Denver Post)
A Starbucks spokesperson, in a statement to The Post this month, said the company “respects our partners’ right to choose through a fair and democratic process, to be represented by a union or not to be represented by a union.”
But federal judges have repeatedly said otherwise. The NLRB, time and again, has found that Starbucks violated the National Labor Relations Act in dealings with employees and their efforts to unionize.
The coffee giant shuttered a store in Colorado Springs in 2022 shortly after its workers voted to unionize and one day before a requested bargaining date. The NLRB, the following year, ordered Starbucks to reopen that store, along with 22 others around the country, because the company had failed to give notice to labor groups.
The NLRB invalidated another union election at a different Colorado Springs location in 2022, finding that management threatened employees through “highly coercive” questioning and “textbook unlawful interrogation.” One manager gave “dire” warnings to workers that unionized stores would not receive certain benefits, such as pay raises.
In several instances, Starbucks violated federal law by firing Colorado workers over pro-union activities, the NLRB found.
The company has employed these same tactics to dissuade union activity across the country.
Federal labor regulators in 2022 asked a court to force Starbucks to stop the company’s “virulent, widespread and well-orchestrated response to employees’ protected organizing efforts.”
Starbucks has refused to divulge how much it has spent on its response to worker organizing campaigns. A federal judge in 2023 ordered the company to comply with a U.S. Department of Labor subpoena seeking expenditure documents for its investigation into the company’s compliance with the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.
“We will not sit idly by when any company, including Starbucks Corp., defies our request to provide documents to make certain they are complying with the law,” Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said in a statement at the time.
Howard Schultz, the coffee chain’s billionaire founder, has said the unionization drive felt like an attack on his life’s work. In previous speeches to his employees, he has cast the union as “a group trying to take our people,” an “outside force that’s trying desperately to disrupt our company” and “an adversary that’s threatening the very essence of what (we) believe to be true.”
Sharon Block, a former NLRB member under President Obama and a professor at Harvard Law School, said the coffee giant has used a tried-and-true playbook to stifle union activity. But with weak federal laws and a National Labor Relations Board that has been stunted by the Trump administration, she said, there is little incentive for unscrupulous companies to play by the rules.
“This is a continuing pattern of behavior that sends a signal to the workers that this is a company that will do almost anything to stop them,” she said in an interview.
Starbucks has earned the distinction as a model for unlawful corporate union busting, the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, wrote in a January article. The National Labor Relations Act lacks teeth, making companies more than willing to accept a few slaps on the wrist in order to achieve their broader goals, the report’s author noted.
“There is no mystery as to why corporations like … Starbucks … violate the (law) with such regularity: Crime pays great dividends, as it produces the desired chilling effect on worker organizing and as corporations consider the law’s paltry sanctions an insignificant price to pay to prevent unionization through fear and disruption,” the article states. “The penalties for violating the (law) are utterly meaningless for multibillion-dollar corporations.”
‘No contract, no coffee’
Despite these aggressive union-busting efforts, Starbucks workers continue to organize in Colorado and across the country.
Unionized shops in Colorado have grown to 17 stores, including five in Denver. More than 640 member stores have joined the cause since 2022, making the drive one of the fastest organizing efforts in modern history, according to Starbucks Workers United.
Now workers want a contract.
The union and the company conducted their first bargaining session in April 2024, meeting monthly that summer. In December, however, the union says Starbucks backtracked on the agreed-upon path forward. Starbucks Workers United accused the company of failing to bargain in good faith.
In April, the company rejected Starbucks’ package. The two sides have yet to return to the bargaining table.
Workers voted overwhelmingly on Nov. 5 to authorize an open-ended unfair labor practice strike. The union on Nov. 13 turned Starbucks’ Red Cup Day — an annual free cup giveaway around the holiday season — into a “red cup rebellion,” forcing the closure of nearly all 65 stores where workers were striking.
Starbucks Workers United said they planned to continue escalating the strike, warning that it could be the “largest, longest strike in company history” if the company refuses to deliver a fair contract.
Colorado Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, along with 24 of their Senate colleagues, wrote a letter this month to Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, pushing the company to end its “illegal union-busting efforts and negotiate a fair contract with its employees.”
“It is clear that Starbucks has the money to reach a fair agreement with its workers,” the senators wrote. “Starbucks must reverse course from its current posture, resolve its existing labor disputes, and bargain a fair contract in good faith with these employees.”
Jeremy Dixon, right, and Starbucks baristas picket outside a Starbucks store during a rally to demand a new union contract in Colorado Springs on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Kelly, Starbucks’ chief partner officer, said the company already offers the best overall wage and benefits package in retail. She touted strong benefits that include health care, 100% tuition coverage for a four-year college degree and up to 18 weeks of paid family leave. The union, she wrote, is proposing pay increases of 65% immediately and 77% over three years, along with other proposals that would “significantly affect store operations and customer experience.”
“These aren’t serious, evidence-based proposals,” Kelly wrote.
The union, though, says many workers don’t get enough hours to qualify for benefits. Starting wages for baristas, they say, are $15.25 an hour in a majority of states, though Denver’s minimum wage stands at $18.81, requiring higher rates. Barista positions listed on the company’s website start at $17 per hour in Colorado, while shift supervisor roles begin around $21 per hour.
Baristas in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs last month participated in a national wave of pickets as they demanded a fair contract and prepared to strike.
“No contract, no coffee!” workers and their allies shouted as they rallied outside a Starbucks cafe on South College Avenue in Fort Collins. “Respect our rights or expect our strikes!”
Drivers honked their horns in support, while supporters gave thumbs-down reactions to those frequenting the coffee chain.
Three days later, a dozen people picketed outside a cafe on Carmela Grove in Colorado Springs, chanting in call-and-response choruses.
“I’m proud so many other stores are willing to step up with us,” said Blue Taylor, a shift supervisor and strike captain at the store. The 19-year-old watched as the company, during the store’s unionizing drive, spread misinformation about the consequences of organizing and tried to dissuade workers from supporting the cause. It didn’t work.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Missouri dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 2,009 in the week ending September 20, down from 2,198 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 218,000 last week, down 14,000 claims from 232,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Alaska saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 25.9%. South Carolina, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 37.7%.
Multiple New Jersey based contractors have been ordered to settle with underpaid carpenters for nearly $430,000.
Above All Inc., Regiment Construction Corp. and Seawolf Construction Corp. will pay a combined $429,846 in back wages and fringe benefits to 12 workers, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a statement on Monday.
An investigation found that the companies paid the workers an average of $32 an hour to work on federal construction projects, the Department of Labor said. The required pay for the projects ranged from $59.08 to $68.23 per hour, officials said.
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“This decision and order should make clear that the U.S. Department of Labor will pursue all necessary legal actions to ensure that employers are held accountable when they violate federal prevailing wage laws,” said New York Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff.
Regiment Construction Corp. and Seawolf Construction Corp., both based in Elizabeth, had subcontracted Above All Inc. to perform carpentry work on three federal construction jobs.
The three companies have filed petitions for review of the decision with the department’s Administrative Review Board.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Michigan dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 4,485 in the week ending September 13, down from 8,441 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 231,000 last week, down 33,000 claims from 264,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
South Carolina saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 60.6%. North Dakota, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 70.9%.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Michigan dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 4,485 in the week ending September 13, down from 8,441 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 231,000 last week, down 33,000 claims from 264,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
South Carolina saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 60.6%. North Dakota, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 70.9%.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Michigan rose last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased to 8,403 in the week ending September 6, up from 5,423 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims rose to 263,000 last week, up 27,000 claims from 236,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
North Dakota saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 269.2%. Tennessee, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 52.1%.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in California dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 37,470 in the week ending September 6, down from 38,816 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims rose to 263,000 last week, up 27,000 claims from 236,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
North Dakota saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 269.2%. Tennessee, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 52.1%.
Restricting shareholder proposals undermines the checks and balances that protect markets, innovation and social responsibility. Unsplash+
Illegal child marriages. Coerced sterilization. Debt bondage. Until recently, shareholders had the right to raise such human rights concerns through formal proposals to corporate boards, a right protected by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for nearly a century. Recent regulatory and interpretive changes, however, are creating new challenges for this fundamental avenue for accountability.
The sugar cane industry, for example, has become emblematic of harmful supply chain practices, involving some of the most visible and widely reported examples of concerning business practices. Companies including Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Mondelez have faced investigations into alleged labor abuses, including debt bondage. At Pepsi’s 2025 annual meeting, shareholders sought to submit a proposal requesting a report on the company’s efforts to address human rights violations in its supply chain. The company excluded the proposal, citing SEC staff’s revised interpretation of Rule 14a-8, outlined in Staff Legal Bulletin 14M (SLB14M).
SLB14M provides guidance on the application of Rule 14a-8, which allows eligible shareholders to submit proposals for inclusion in a company’s proxy statement. The bulletin also specifies circumstances under which companies may exclude these proposals. Citing that revised interpretation, Pepsi argued that the reported abuses occurred in franchise operations (which are “expected” to follow a code of conduct), not in Pepsi’s direct supply chain, and that the franchise sales were not “significantly related” to Pepsi’s business. Essentially, Pepsi claimed that the source of the ingredients sold under its brand did not materially affect its own business because the company itself did not purchase them. The SEC agreed with Pepsi, preventing shareholders from voting on the proposal.
Pepsi did not dispute reports that its products sold in India were allegedly made with sugar obtained through a supply chain linked to debt bondage and coerced hysterectomies. Instead, the company contended that these issues were unlikely to materially impact its operations. According to the SEC’s interpretation, shareholders may only make proposals with significant financial implications for the company itself, no matter the broader social or environmental consequences.
While SEC rules often shift with administrations, this case reflects a larger trend: a narrowing of shareholder voice. Several recent developments illustrate the pattern:
Collectively, these developments constrain shareholders’ capacity to influence corporate behavior towards more sustainable or ethical practices. Critics of shareholder engagement argue that investors should focus solely on financial returns, treating social and environmental considerations as irrelevant. This is a false dichotomy on two levels. First, environmental and human rights issues often carry real financial risks. Second, systemic harm—from environmental degradation to inequality—affects the broader economy and threatens the diversified portfolios and returns of investors.
The economic opportunity in sustainable business practices
The sugar supply chain demonstrates both the risks and opportunities for companies and investors. Brands derive tremendous value from reputation. The perception that Pepsi products are linked to labor abuses can erode consumer trust and is a significant concern for the company. Addressing these issues presents an opportunity to safeguard brand equity and strengthen customer loyalty. For shareholders, engagement extends beyond a single company’s prospects. Human rights and sustainability issues influence global economic conditions, which in turn impact the returns of diversified investors. By encouraging companies to adopt responsible practices, shareholders can help stabilize markets, support GDP growth and mitigate systemic risk.
The path forward: strengthening market-based solutions
Notably, this regulatory shift is occurring under a Republican-controlled administration and Congress, which has historically advocated for private property rights. Policymakers should ensure that proposal mechanisms remain consistent with free-market principles, enabling investors to allocate capital efficiently and hold companies accountable. If financial market rules are being revised, it should not be forgotten that the strength of our economy is based on a free capital market, which allows investors to fund a broad array of enterprises that create authentic value over the long term.
Limiting shareholder voice affects far more than greenhouse gas emissions and DEI. It alters the balance of power in capital markets, shifting decision-making from investors to executives and politicians. Investors are losing the power to push back when corporate executives risk the future of the company or the economy to boost profits. And this doesn’t just harm investors. This means our markets will become less effective allocators of capital, as decisions are made by unrestrained executives driven by short-term incentives or politicians swayed by political maneuvering, rather than by a commitment to the integrity of capital markets.
The innovation opportunity
Recent SEC actions show the practical consequences. In March, SEC staff allowed Wells Fargo to exclude a proposal on workers’ rights and collective bargaining, a proposal that observers note likely would have been allowed a few months prior. Limiting shareholder engagement reduces opportunities for market-driven innovation in workforce development, climate solutions and sustainable growth strategies. Climate issues illustrate the stakes vividly. Analysts project that unchecked greenhouse gas emissions could reduce global GDP by 50 percent between 2070 and 2090. Economic modeling suggests that decisive global climate action could lead to a $43 trillion gain in net present value to the global economy by 2070. Investor engagement can accelerate the transition to cleaner energy and sustainable business models, creating economic opportunities while mitigating systemic risks. Ignoring investors’ voices on these matters rejects the role that capital has played in creating the economic engine of the U.S. economy.
Workers depending on 401(k) plans, such as those in the American Airlines plan, could face real financial consequences if investor oversight is curtailed. Estimates suggest that the current trajectory of emissions could depress the entire equities market by up to 40 percent. The fossil fuel industry’s shortsightedness and the current administration’s policies are exacerbating the environmental crisis and creating economic and retirement instabilities.
Limiting shareholder voice threatens far more than individual investors. It weakens the very mechanisms that keep U.S. markets dynamic, resilient and capable of driving long-term growth. The muzzling of investors is part of a larger story: environmental data is being scrubbed from federal websites, critical scientific inquiry is being stalled and dissenters are being penalized. Historically, U.S. markets and democracy alike have relied on open debate and the free flow of information. Undermining shareholder oversight is part of a broader erosion of transparency that threatens both markets and the very norms that underpin a free society. Shareholder input is not a political preference but a market stabilizer, an innovation driver and a critical check on corporate governance. Preserving this function is essential to sustaining the economy, the integrity of capital markets and the broader social and environmental systems on which long-term prosperity depends.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Michigan rose last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased to 5,413 in the week ending August 30, up from 5,073 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims rose to 237,000 last week, up 8,000 claims from 229,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Tennessee saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 103.1%. Kentucky, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 64.4%.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Ohio dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 4,994 in the week ending August 23, down from 5,216 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 229,000 last week, down 5,000 claims from 234,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Virgin Islands saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 62.5%. Iowa, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 50.2%.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Pennsylvania dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 9,150 in the week ending August 23, down from 9,683 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 229,000 last week, down 5,000 claims from 234,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Virgin Islands saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 62.5%. Iowa, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 50.2%.
Labor Day is quickly approaching, and the holiday originally began after organized labor groups began pushing for a celebration in the late nineteenth century to “recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being,” the U.S. Department of Labor says.
While the federal holiday means an enjoyable three-day weekend for many, minimum wages for employees remain low across the nation, including in Kentucky. Here’s what to know about the holiday and minimum wages.
When is Labor Day 2025?
Labor Day falls on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. The holiday is observed on the first Monday in September each year, the U.S. Department of Labor says.
What is the minimum wage in Kentucky?
The U.S. Department of Labor says Kentucky’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which is one of the lowest nationwide.
Minimum wage for Kentucky’s border states
The U.S. Department of Labor says the minimum wage for states bordering Kentucky is:
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Michigan dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 5,440 in the week ending August 16, down from 6,562 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims rose to 235,000 last week, up 11,000 claims from 224,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Kentucky saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 180.0%. Wyoming, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 33.9%.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Michigan dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 5,440 in the week ending August 16, down from 6,562 the week before, the Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment claims rose to 235,000 last week, up 11,000 claims from 224,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Kentucky saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 180.0%. Wyoming, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 33.9%.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level in two months last week, signaling that layoffs remain relatively low despite other signs of labor market cooling.
Jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 227,000 for the week of Aug. 31, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the fewest since the week of July 6, when 223,000 Americans filed claims. It’s also less than the 230,000 new filings that analysts were expecting.
The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 1,750 to 230,000. That’s the lowest four-week average since early June.
Weekly filings for unemployment benefits, considered a proxy for layoffs, remain low by historic standards, though they are up from earlier this year.
During the first four months of 2024, claims averaged a historically low 213,000 a week. But they started rising in May. They hit 250,000 in late July, adding to evidence that high interest rates were finally cooling a red-hot U.S. job market.
Employers added just 114,000 jobs in July, well below the January-June monthly average of nearly 218,000. The unemployment rate rose for the fourth straight month in July, though it remains relatively low at 4.3%.
Economists polled by FactSet expect Friday’s August jobs report to show that the U.S. added 160,000 jobs, up from 114,000 in July, and that the unemployment rate dipped to 4.2% from 4.3%. The report’s strength, or weakness, will likely influence the Federal Reserve’s plans for how much to cut its benchmark interest rate.
Last month, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported. The revised total supports evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and reinforces the Fed’s plan to start cutting interest rates later this month.
The Fed, in an attempt to stifle inflation that hit a four-decade high just over two years ago, raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. That pushed it to a 23-year high, where it has stayed for more than a year.
Inflation has retreated steadily, approaching the Fed’s 2% target and leading Chair Jerome Powell to declare recently that it was largely under control.
Traders are forecasting the Fed will cut its benchmark rate by a full percentage point by the end of 2024, which would require it to cut the rate by more than the traditional quarter of a percentage point at one of its meetings in the next few months.
Thursday’s report also showed that the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits declined by 22,000 to 1.84 million for the week of Aug. 24.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi poultry processing plant has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor that requires it to pay $164,814 in fines and put in place enhanced safety measures following the death of a 16-year-old boy at the facility.
The agreement, announced Friday in a news release, comes after an investigation of Mar-Jac Poultry by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration into the death of an underaged worker who was pulled into a machine as they cleaned it July 14, 2023.
“Tragically, a teenage boy died needlessly before Mar-Jac Poultry took required steps to protect its workers,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in Atlanta. “This settlement demands the company commit to a safer workplace environment and take tangible actions to protect their employees from well-known hazards. Enhanced supervision and increased training can go a long way toward minimizing risks faced by workers in meat processing facilities.”
“Mar-Jac was aware of these safety problems for years and had been warned and fined by OSHA, yet did nothing. Hopefully, Mar-Jac will follow through this time so that no other worker is killed in such a senseless manner,” Jim Reeves, an attorney for the victim’s family, told WHLT-TV.
The victim’s family sued Mar-Jac Poultry MS, LLC, and Onin Staffing earlier this year. The lawsuit alleges that Perez was killed due to Mar-Jac ignoring safety regulations and not turning off machinery during sanitation. The suit also claims Onin Staffing was negligent in illegally assigning the 16-year-old to work at the plant.
Headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia, Mar-Jac Poultry has raised live birds for poultry production since 1954 at facilities in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi for food service customers in the U.S and abroad, the DOL’s news release said.
A telephone call Friday to the company seeking comment about the settlement was not answered.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve wraps ups its two-day policy meeting.
Few expect the U.S. central bank to lower interest rates this time around, with most experts forecasting a cut in September. The Fed began ratcheting up rates in March of 2022 in the midst of the four-decade high inflation that took root as the economy rebounded from the brief but sharp pandemic recession. Data suggest that inflation has receded in recent months and is closing in on the Fed’s 2% target.
BOEING BLUES
Embattled jet maker Boeing reports its second-quarter earnings Wednesday.
Virginia-based Boeing has been mired in investigations and lawsuits since two of its Max 747s crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. Last week, the Justice Department submitted a detailed plea agreement with Boeing in which the aerospace giant will plead guilty to a fraud charge for misleading U.S. regulators who approved the 737 Max jetliner before the crashes.
EYE ON JOBS
The government serves up its July jobs report on Friday.
America’s employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in June, highlighting the economy’s ability to withstand high interest rates. Last month’s job growth marked a pullback from May and analysts expect another dip in hiring in July. The Federal Reserve is paying close attention to the cooling labor market as it gathers data relevant to its interest rate policy decisions.
The need for second — and often third — incomes is mounting, according to a top digital bank executive.
Current CEO Stuart Sopp finds almost half of the firm’s payment customers have more than one job.
“If you’re having a paycheck over the past year, 20, 25% of paycheck depositors have at least one extra job. A further 20% incremental from there have two jobs,” Sopp told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Thursday. “They’re trying to make that money go further because of inflation.”
“Wage inflation is moderating quite substantially,” he said. “America has a sort of tail of two cities right now. Two groups: The wealthy and less affluent.”
Sopp launched Current, which provides mobile banking without monthly fees and offers secured credit cards, in 2015. It originally focused on helping medium to lower income customers. His company Current reports almost five million members.
He’s particularly concerned about less affluent consumers spiraling into debt to pay for basic necessities.
“They’re being forced into risks like risky credit cards,” noted Sopp, a former Morgan Stanley trader. “Unsecured credit cards… are not suitable for everyone.”
Delta Air Lines executives say they’re not seeing the drop in average airfares that federal officials believe are contributing to lower inflation.
The Labor Department’s latest consumer price index this week showed average airfares falling 8% from May to June on a seasonally adjusted basis.
“We’re not seeing the same, and it’s a different data point than what we have,” Delta President Glen Hauenstein said on the airline’s second-quarter earnings call. He dismissed the Labor Department’s methodology as a “ample of a sample.”
Delta Air Lines is reporting record profit and revenue in the second quarter, as summer travelers pack planes and head off on vacation.
Officials say a Delta flight landed roughly but safely at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Wednesday without its front landing gear extended.
A consumer class action lawsuit filed Tuesday claims Delta Air Lines inaccurately billed itself as the world’s “first carbon-neutral airline” and should pay damages.
Analysts agreed with Delta’s assessment. JPMorgan’s Jamie Baker said the government figure excludes corporate and most premium travel and is drawn heavily from discount-airline service. He blamed the CPI number for causing airline stocks to fall Wednesday, when the Labor Department report came out.
Delta executives seemed far more willing to accept the Labor Department’s calculation that average fares last month were 19% lower than they were in June of last year.
CEO Ed Bastian said it is important to remember that at this time last year, many people were just beginning to travel after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but airlines weren’t yet fully staffed. As a result, demand was far stronger than supply.
“People didn’t care where they were going or how much they spent. They just wanted to go someplace,” he said. “We were seeing fares up 30%, 40%, 50%” for some domestic flights. “That’s obviously not sustainable.”
The Labor Department’s monthly CPI report indicated that lower prices for airline tickets, gasoline and used cars in June helped produce the lowest inflation since early 2021 — 3% compared with a year earlier.
