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Tag: U.S. Department of Labor

  • Biden To Nominate Julie Su As Next U.S. Labor Secretary

    Biden To Nominate Julie Su As Next U.S. Labor Secretary

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is nominating Julie Su, the current deputy and former California official, as his next labor secretary, replacing the departing incumbent, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

    Su, a civil rights attorney and former head of California’s labor department, was central to negotiations between labor and freight rail companies late last year, working to avert an economically debilitating strike. She also has worked to broaden employee training programs and crack down on wage theft. If confirmed by the Senate, Su would also be the first Asian-American in the Biden administration to serve in the Cabinet at the secretary level.

    Biden, in a statement on Tuesday, called her a “champion for workers.”

    “Julie is a tested and experienced leader, who will continue to build a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive economy that provides Americans a fair return for their work and an equal chance to get ahead,” he said. “She helped avert a national rail shutdown, improved access to good jobs free from discrimination through my Good Jobs Initiative, and is ensuring that the jobs we create in critical sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, broadband and healthcare are good-paying, stable and accessible jobs for all.”

    FILE – Julie Su, of Calif., speaks during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for her to be Deputy Secretary of Labor, on Capitol Hill, March 16, 2021, in Washington. President Joe Biden is nominating Julie Su, the current deputy and former California official, as his next Labor Secretary, replacing the departing incumbent, former Boston mayor Marty Walsh. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

    Su was considered to lead the department when Biden won the White House but instead became the department’s deputy. Walsh announced his intention to leave the administration earlier this month to lead the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Su will serve as the acting secretary until the Senate acts on her nomination.

    Biden had been under pressure from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and other Asian American and Pacific Islander advocates to select Su to head the department. This administration was the first in more than two decades to not have a Cabinet secretary of AAPI descent, despite its regular declarations that it was the most diverse in history. Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai are of AAPI descent but don’t lead a Cabinet department.

    Su, if confirmed, would also expand the majority of women serving in the president’s Cabinet. She was confirmed by the Senate to her current role in 2021 by a 50–47 vote.

    Her nomination also comes at a key moment for labor unions, which have been facing a decline in membership for decades. Unions gained some momentum as workers at major employers such as Amazon and Starbucks pushed to unionize. But Biden — an avowed pro-union president — had to work with Congress to impose a contract on rail workers last year to avoid a possible strike.

    The Labor Department said just 10.1% of workers last year were union members. That figure has been cut nearly in half since 1983 and could fall further, as younger workers are less likely to belong to unions.

    Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • US job openings stayed high in sign of economic resilience

    US job openings stayed high in sign of economic resilience

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    WASHINGTON — U.S. job openings slipped in November but remained high, suggesting businesses are still determined to add workers, a blow to the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool hiring and wage gains.

    There were 10.46 million job vacancies on the last day of November, down slightly from 10.51 million in October, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Openings peaked at 11.9 million in March.

    Yet the figures show there are nearly 1.8 jobs for every unemployed person, down from a peak of 2 but historically very high. Before the pandemic, there were usually more unemployed people than jobs.

    Such a high number of job openings suggests the economy is not yet in recession or close to falling into one. Typically businesses stop advertising job openings as the economy stumbles.

    And the high number of vacancies suggest the Fed will continue raising its benchmark interest rate at its coming meetings to quell inflation. Those higher rates will also raise the cost of mortgages, auto loans and other consumer and business borrowing.

    “For Fed officials, these data support the view that rates need to move higher and will need to stay high for some time, to soften labor market conditions and lower prices back to target,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, a consulting firm.

    In another key metric, the number of people quitting their job rose to 4.2 million, up from about 4 million in October. That is below a record of roughly 4.6 million quits late last year, but is still elevated. Workers typically quit a job for higher pay in new positions. When many Americans quit, it can force businesses to pay more to keep their workers.

    The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring the figures on job openings and quits for signals about the strength of the job market. More quitting suggests there are still plenty of businesses, desperate to hire, that are offering higher pay to lure workers from their current jobs.

    That runs counter to the Fed’s goal of slowing hiring and the economy in order to bring down inflation. Price gains have weakened in recent months but inflation was still high at 7.1% in November compared with a year ago.

    While more job openings are a benefit for those seeking work, Fed officials would like to see the number of openings fall. That’s because fewer openings would indicate less competition between businesses to find and keep workers, reducing pressure on them to raise wages.

    Fed Chair Jerome Powell has highlighted rising pay as a factor in keeping inflation high. Bigger paychecks enable Americans to spend more and can push companies to raise prices to offset the higher labor costs.

    The Fed has raised rates seven times this year, to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, and hopes cool off the economy without causing a recession. But it expects its rate hikes to push unemployment to 4.6% next year, up from 3.7% now, an increase that has never occurred outside of a downturn.

    The report comes just days before the government is scheduled to release the December jobs report on Friday, which will show how many jobs were gained last month, and whether the unemployment rate rose or fell.

    Wednesday’s report — known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey — provides greater detail about the labor market.

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  • US job openings fell slightly in November yet still high

    US job openings fell slightly in November yet still high

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    WASHINGTON — U.S. job openings slipped in November but remained high suggesting businesses remain determined to add workers, a blow to the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool hiring and wage gains.

    There were 10.46 million job vacancies on the last day of November, down slightly from 10.51 million in October, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That’s down from a peak of 11.9 million in March.

    Yet the figures show there are nearly 1.8 jobs for every unemployed person, down from a peak of 2 but historically very high. Before the pandemic, there were usually more unemployed people than jobs.

    In another key metric, the number of people quitting their job rose to 4.2 million, up from about 4 million in October. That is below record peaks of roughly 4.6 million quits late last year, but is still historically high. Workers typically quit a job for higher pay in new positions. When many Americans quit, it can force businesses to pay more to keep their workers.

    The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring the figures on job openings and quits for signals about the strength of the job market. More quitting suggests there are still plenty of businesses, desperate to hire, that are still offering higher pay to lure workers from their current jobs.

    That runs counter to the Fed’s goal of slowing hiring and the economy in order to bring down inflation. Price gains have weakened in recent months but inflation was still high at 7.1% in November compared with a year ago.

    While more job openings are a benefit for those seeking work, Fed officials would like to see the number of openings fall. That’s because fewer openings would indicate less competition between businesses to find and keep workers, reducing pressure on them to raise wages.

    The Fed has raised rates seven times this year, to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, and hopes cool off the economy without causing a recession. But it expects its rate hikes to push unemployment to 4.6% next year, up from 3.7% now, an increase that has never occurred outside of a downturn.

    The report comes just days before the government is scheduled to release the December jobs report on Friday, which will show how many jobs were gained last month, and whether the unemployment rate rose or fell.

    Wednesday’s report — known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey — provides greater detail about the labor market, while the monthly jobs report on Friday includes the unemployment rate and the number of jobs added or lost each month.

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  • Applications for US unemployment aid rose slightly last week

    Applications for US unemployment aid rose slightly last week

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    WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose only slightly last week with the labor market remaining strong despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the economy and hiring.

    Applications for unemployment aid for the week ending Dec. 24 climbed 9,000 to 225,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of applications, which smooths out some of the week-to-week swings, slipped just 250 to 221,000.

    Unemployment benefit applications are a proxy for layoffs, and are being closely monitored by economists as the Fed has rapidly raised interest rates in an effort to slow job growth and inflation. Should the Fed’s rate hikes cause a recession, as many economists fear, a jump in layoffs and unemployment claims would be an early sign.

    So far, the level of jobless claims remains quite low, evidence that Americans are enjoying a high degree of job security. In the coming weeks, thousands of workers with temporary jobs during the winter holidays will lose work and apply for jobless aid. The government seeks to seasonally adjust the data to account for those job losses, but the adjustments are not always perfect and the layoff of temporary workers could distort the data.

    The Fed is seeking to slow job growth and the pace of wage increases as part of its efforts to battle inflation. The central bank has hiked rates seven times this year, which has made it more expensive for consumers to take out mortgage and auto loans, and raised borrowing rates for credit cards.

    So far, the interest rate increases have pushed mortgage rates above 6%, essentially double what they were before the Fed began tightening credit. Higher mortgage rates have hammered the housing market, with sales of existing homes falling for 10 straight months.

    Yet so far there has been only a limited impact on hiring. Employers added 263,000 jobs in November, a healthy gain, and the unemployment rate stayed at a low 3.7%.

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