The U.S. job market is strong, but layoffs are on the rise. Is this a good — or bad — time to ask for a raise? Experts weigh in.

The U.S. job market is strong, but layoffs are on the rise. Is this a good — or bad — time to ask for a raise? Experts weigh in.

Is this an opportune time to ask for a raise? Or, given the recent spate of tech layoffs, is it better to lie low for a while?  The good news: Employers are giving pay raises. The increase in wages over the past year climbed to 5.1%, from 4.9% in the prior month, the Labor Department…

Labor Department makes key change to jobs questionnaire to reflect key shift in white-collar work

Labor Department makes key change to jobs questionnaire to reflect key shift in white-collar work

As the economy added another 263,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked down in September, the jobs report also showed that the share of workers telecommuting because of the pandemic continued edging down, falling to 5.2% from 6.5% the previous month. The statistic about COVID-19-induced work-from-home keeps telling the story how America’s white collar workers…

The U.S. does not have a national heat standard for workers. Advocates say it could save the lives of agriculture, construction, kitchen and factory workers.

The U.S. does not have a national heat standard for workers. Advocates say it could save the lives of agriculture, construction, kitchen and factory workers.

Imagine the scorching sun at your back as a farm laborer or a construction worker outdoors in late summer, or being engulfed in punishing heat as a warehouse or kitchen staffer without access to air conditioning.  That’s the reality for essential workers across the U.S. Yet the country lacks a specific federal rule for protecting…

In America, it’s legal for kids as young as 12 to work on small farms. One former child laborer describes ‘dangerous and back-breaking work.’

In America, it’s legal for kids as young as 12 to work on small farms. One former child laborer describes ‘dangerous and back-breaking work.’

Norma Flores López was 12 when she began working 10- to 12-hour days, every day of the week. Because that grueling work occurred on a farm, it was allowed. Kids in the U.S. can take on unlimited hours of agricultural labor so long as they don’t miss school and have a parent’s permission. López told…

The biggest monthly rent increase in 36 years is adding fuel to inflation fire

The biggest monthly rent increase in 36 years is adding fuel to inflation fire

Rent prices are helping to fuel inflation, new government data shows, seeing their largest monthly increase in more than three decades. The consumer price index jumped by a stunning 9.1% in June from a year earlier, according to a Wednesday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while a lot of the blame is…