From fresh food to a new backyard fence, it's spending season

Jun 12, 2019
A look at consumer prices as our listeners get ready for summer.
Kelsey Sprowell of Iowa City, Iowa, chose to build this fence with her family to save money.
Courtesy of Kelsey Sprowell

Socially responsible investing is in the crosshairs of the Labor Department

May 7, 2018
An official recommendation was made to not put retirement plans at risk by investing in stocks that focus on environmental social governance, or ESG.
The day's numbers are displayed after the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange on May 3, 2018 in New York.
BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images

Private sector wages and benefits are on the upswing, but economists caution celebrating

Jan 31, 2018
We are finally starting to see some signs that the tight labor market is pushing up wages. New numbers out today from the Department of Labor show wages and salaries in the private sector are up 2.8 percent from this time last year. That doesn’t leave too much extra cash for workers once you factor […]

When the public weighs in on proposed regulation, does it matter?

Jan 22, 2018
The Department of Labor has a new rule it wants to get on the books that would change the way restaurants treat tips. It’s called the tip-pooling rule, and would let workers in the back of the house, like dishwashers and prep cooks, share the tips made by the servers in the front of the […]

Your restaurant tips may not go to your server under proposed rule change

Dec 6, 2017
The Department of Labor has proposed changes to Obama-era rules about tipping. The changes would let employers pool tip money from workers who earn at least minimum wage and share it with non-tipped workers or use it to “make capital improvements, lower prices, or hire additional workers.” The public comment period is remarkably short, with […]

What happens when the economic census is late

All of the policy and business decisions that use that census data — and there are a lot — will get pushed back, too.

Labor department's fiduciary rule takes effect

Jun 8, 2017
It simply says that financial advisers must act in your best interest.
The Department of Labor reviewed the fiduciary rule at the behest of President Trump but couldn't find a legal basis to block it.
Wikimedia Commons

For public good, not for profit.

Here's what full employment looks like

Mar 1, 2017
Last night in his speech to Congress, President Donald Trump said 94 million people are out of the labor force. But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that figure includes retirees, students, stay-at-home parents and other people who just aren’t looking for a job. The truth is, at 4.8 percent unemployment, the U.S. economy […]

New overtime rule could help millions

Jul 6, 2016
The Labor Department said an additional 4 million workers will have overtime protection.
 Customers pay at a cashier station in a JCpenny during Black Friday.
Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Does the April employment report show signs of a slowdown?

May 6, 2016
The economy added 160,000 jobs in April, according to the Labor Department, while unemployment held steady at 5 percent.
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the economy at the White House on Friday.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images