labor department

The U.S. labor market continues to move in the wrong direction as initial jobless claims rose to the highest levels seen this year. What Happened: Claims jumped 7,000 for the week ended July 16 to 251,000 total, according to data the Labor Department released on Thursday. The number...

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Economic health is sound enough for the market to expect the Fed to continue with its measured pace of rate increases. Therefore, when Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen sounded dovish at last week's semi-annual monetary policy testimony, it came as a surprise. The testimony, which cast a cloud of...

“Gig workers” make up almost 34 percent of the workforce, and Recode expects this number to double in four years. Gig workers are the Uber drivers, AirBnB property owners, the freelance writers, the self-employed musicians — the workers who make their own schedule and find their...

The U.S. economy, which was stuttering with a "fits-and-starts" recovery following the Great Recession of 2007–2008, has now reached a state of steady, stable growth, with the pace of growth centering around a new normal rate that is lower than its historical norm. Economic Health: Far From...

Those bracing for upbeat Labor Department non-farm payrolls, or NFP, data for March following an exceedingly strong Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ: ADP) private payrolls report were in for a disappointment. The March NFP Report: A Dampener The Labor Department's establishment survey, which is...

A federal court on Thursday upheld the Labor Department's Fiduciary rule, in defiance of a Trump executive order signed on Feb. 3, which sought rescinding the rule enacted by his predecessor The executive order, though not taking effect immediately, sought the Labor Department to review options...

The Trump administration suffered another drubbing at the hands of the judiciary, with a federal court upholding the Labor Department's Fiduciary rule. It was only on Thursday that a federal appeals court unanimously rejected Trump's Executive Order on entry ("travel ban"), which seeks to ban...

The Labor Department's non-farm payrolls report rolled in on Friday to reveal happy tidings for the economy. The jobless rate plummeted to a nine-year low of 4.6 percent. The statistics sent people into a tizzy, ratcheting up expectations for a Fed rate hike as early as December. When a 0.3-...

The Federal Reserve's monetary policy setting arm, or the FOMC is set to sit across the table for one last time this year to deliberate on rates. It's sure an unenviable task, given the fine line central bankers have to tread in deciding the apt course of the monetary policy. A wrong move can...

Testifying to the strength of the jobs market, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing strong job gains and a slip back in the jobless rate to a nine-year low. The Fed now has its task cut out for it as it prepares to meet next week to discuss its monetary policy stance. Robust...

Grocers have been plagued by food price deflation these days, with all and sundry in the industry warning of hits to their top lines. Of particular note, prices of food such as egg, dairy and beef have seen sharp declines in recent months. The Labor Department's consumer price inflation report...

The customary Friday jobs report is close. The typical nervous anticipation ahead of the data is slowly giving way to a complacency, given the consistent robustness revealed by the data in the expansionary phase of the current economic cycle. The report due to be released by the Labor Department...

Another labor market indicator is out, and the data is consistent with the recent deduction that the labor market is alive and kicking. This could be a good omen for president-elect Donald Trump, as he is set to take the reins of the world's largest economy. Jobless Claims A Labor Department...

Jobs Friday is on us yet again, and this time around, the normal hype around this monthly release is muted. The reason: Many see this numbers as having very little impact on the Fed's monetary policy outlook. This being the presidential election year, economists widely believe the central bank may...