Tag: Jobs

Activists Look to the Future of Oil Pipelines Following Keystone XL Cancellation

Minnesota Sun Staff
Anti Keystone XL pipeline citizens

After the cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline struck a blow to the oil industry, energy jobs activists are pushing back by warning of increased costs and touting the benefits of transporting oil via pipeline.

TC Energy Corporation announced on Wednesday that it was cancelling the Keystone XL Pipeline less than five months after President Joe Biden rescinded a vital permit for the pipeline. The cancellation ends an over 12-year battle by activists from both sides over the oil pipeline. The pipeline would have started in the Canadian province of Alberta ultimately ending in Nebraska.

In a statement François Poirier, President and CEO of TC Energy Corporation, expressed disappointment.

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Commentary: Stop Calling It a ‘Labor Shortage.’ It’s an Incentive Shortage

Minnesota Sun Staff
Worker using a sledgehammer on railroad

It’s no secret that US businesses are struggling to find workers. Recent surveys have shown that small businesses are reporting record job openings.

Many have described the phenomenon as a labor shortage.

“Walk outside: labor shortage is the pervasive phenomenon,” economist Lawrence Summers recently observed at a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

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U.S. Added Just 266,000 Jobs in April, Far Below Expectations

Minnesota Sun Staff
Worker in restaurant kitchen

The U.S. economy reported an increase of 266,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.1%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 266,000 in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, and the number of unemployed persons ticked up to 9.8 million. Economists projected a million Americans would be added to payrolls prior to Friday’s report, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“The pieces are really coming together for a burst in activity,” Sarah House, senior economist for Wells Fargo’s Corporate and Investment Bank, told the WSJ. “We’re expecting to see the labor market recovery shift into an even faster gear with the April jobs report.”

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Analysis: Maximum Facts About the Minimum Wage

Minnesota Sun Staff

At 2:00 AM on Saturday, February 27, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a “COVID relief and economic support“ bill at a cost to taxpayers of $1.9 trillion. The next Saturday, Senate Democrats passed a very similar bill, and President Biden stated he will sign it. This will be the sixth “COVID relief” law and swell the tab for such legislation to a total of $5.3 trillion. The combined cost of these laws to every household in the United States will be an average of $41,036.

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U.S. Added 49,000 Jobs in January, Unemployment Rate Fell to 6.3 Percent

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. economy reported an increase of 49,000 jobs in January while the unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 49,000 in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons fell to 10.1 million. Economists projected 50,000 Americans to be added to payrolls and the unemployment rate to increase to come in at 6.7% prior to Friday’s report, according to the WSJ.

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US Economy Lost 140,000 Jobs in December, Economists Expected a Modest Gain

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. economy reported a decrease of 140,000 jobs in December while unemployment stayed unchanged at 6.7%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment declined by 140,000 in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons stayed stagnant at 10.7 million. The number marked the first time since April, the U.S. reported negative job growth.

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U.S. Economy Added 638,000 Jobs in October, More Than Expected

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. economy added 638,000 jobs in October, while unemployment fell to 6.9%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 638,000 in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 1.5 million to 11.1 million. The U.S. added 661,000 jobs in September while the unemployment rate dropped to 7.9%.

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Commentary: Illegal Immigration is Costing Michiganders Jobs

Minnesota Sun Staff

This November, Michigan voters would be wise to recognize the connection between their top concern — the economy — and illegal immigration. Study after study shows that illegal immigration puts downward pressure on wages and takes away Americans’ job opportunities.

That doesn’t seem to bother Democrats. Joe Biden’s immigration plans, which Democratic senators including Gary Peters support, would put the screws to America’s working class. His agenda includes an amnesty for 11 million illegal immigrants already here. In addition, Biden wants to suspend all deportations during his first 100 days in office and relax the rules for claiming asylum.

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Commentary: Biden’s Top Five Job-Killing Policies

Minnesota Sun Staff

Under a Joe Biden presidency, millions of American workers would lose their jobs, families would struggle to pay higher taxes, and many would be forced into unions against their will.  At a time when millions of Americans are already struggling due to Covid-19 economic shutdowns, Biden’s job-killing policies would be a disaster.

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Commentary: Economic Bounce Back Continues with 14.1 Million More Jobs Recovered Since April

Minnesota Sun Staff

Another 275,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in the month of September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) household survey, and 661,000 in the establishment survey, adding to the miraculous economic recovery that has taken place since COVID-19 lockdowns this spring as now states and businesses continue reopening at a rapid clip.

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661,000 Jobs Added in September, Less Than Expected

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. economy added 661,000 jobs in September, while unemployment fell to 7.9%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 661,000 in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 1 million to 12.6 million.

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Commentary: Pelosi Holds Millions of Small Businesses Hostage While Working Families Struggle

Minnesota Sun Staff

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot less was known about the virus and how to counter it, and while the nation was still ramping up production of testing and hospital resources including ventilators needed, 25 million jobs were lost across the country, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Since labor markets bottomed in April, 13.8 million jobs have been recovered, as states have begun steadily reopening in the months since.

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New Unemployment Claims Decrease to 860,000, Beating Predictions

Minnesota Sun Staff

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 860,000 last week as the economy continues to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Department of Labor figure released Thursday represented an decrease of new jobless claims compared to the week ending on Sept. 5, in which there were 884,000 new jobless claims reported.

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US Economy Added 1.4 Million Jobs in August, Unemployment at 8.4 Percent

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. economy added 1.4 million jobs in August, while unemployment fell to 8.4%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 1.4 million in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 2.8 million to 13.6 million. The unemployment rate fell below 10% for the first time since April when the rate reached 14.7%.

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Amazon to Add Thousands of Tech, Corporate Jobs in Six American Cities

The Associated Press

Amazon plans to create 3,500 new tech and corporate jobs in six cities nationwide, the company announced Tuesday.

Most of the company’s new hires will be located in Amazon’s New York office with the rest being added in Dallas, Detroit, Denver, Phoenix and San Diego, according to a press release. Amazon also announced plans to expand the six offices to accommodate the new hires.

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Commentary: Will the Virus Ever Allow the U.S. Economy to Fully Reopen Again?

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. economy contracted a record-setting, inflation-adjusted, annualized 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020 according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis as tens of millions of Americans waited out the Chinese coronavirus in their homes, not venturing out much except for work and needed supplies.

The second quarter comprises of April, May and June, when in Bureau of Labor Statistics’ household survey 25 million jobs were lost by April and then 8.8 million came back in May and June as states slowly began reopening.

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3.3 Million File Unemployment Claims in U.S. – a Record Number

Admin

Nearly 3.3 million Americans filed unemployment claims last week, a record number as businesses were forced to shut down to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that 3.28 million claims were filed in the week that ended March 21. That marked an increase of more than 3 million claims over the week prior, when 282,000 claims were filed.

The previous high in a single week, according to the department, was in October 1982, when about 695,000 claims were filed. The nearly 3.3 million claims filed last week is nearly five times the prior record.

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Commentary: This Ohio Town Is Seeing Manufacturing Jobs Come Back

Minnesota Sun Staff

Thirty miles west of Cleveland along the Lake Erie shoreline sits a town named Lorain, Ohio. Famous for being the birthplace of Toni Morrison, Lorain was once a bustling steel town that drew people from all over the country for manufacturing work. Even the high school football team was named “The Steelmen.” But today, like many Rust Belt towns, Lorain shows signs of decay: ramshackle houses, vacant buildings covered in graffiti, and abandoned plants and factories — lots of them.

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Commentary: Good Economic News Missing From the Mainstream Media Again

Minnesota Sun Staff

You didn’t see it on the front page of one of the establishment newspapers or in the lead segment on establishment TV, but Reuters reported the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, hitting their lowest level in seven months, indicating the labor market remains solid.

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Commentary: The Good Economic News No One Heard About

Minnesota Sun Staff

A few weeks ago, the Census Bureau released the 2018 Income and Poverty in the United States report, but you probably didn’t see anything about it because it received scant attention in the establishment media because it reported such positive results mostly attributable to President Trump’s economic policies. Instead, what little media attention that the report received focused on a meaningless measure of income “inequality.”

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Commentary: The August Jobs Report Is Not ‘Mixed’ It’s Yuuge

Minnesota Sun Staff

The anti-Trump talking-down-the-economy crowd has America already in a recession, with POLITICO’s Morning Money leading its Thursday morning news with, “…manufacturing in recession and capital expenditures dropping, the strong consumer is the final leg holding up the U.S. economy. But the length of the workweek dipped in July, often a leading signal that employers are cutting back. A sharp slowdown in job creation could follow.”

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June Jobs Report: 224,000 Jobs Added, Unemployment At 3.7 Percent

Minnesota Sun Staff

by Mary Margaret Olohan   The U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate slightly increased to 3.7 percent, according to Department of Labor data released Friday. 224,000 jobs were added in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, about double the number economists predicted.…

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Unemployment Jumps, Minnesota Loses 8,800 Jobs During Walz’s First Full Month

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development, or DEED, released its monthly jobs report Thursday, and the results weren’t good for Gov. Tim Walz’s first full month in office. According to the report, Minnesota lost 8,800 seasonally adjusted jobs in February, and the unemployment rate climbed from 3 percent to…

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Steve Cortes Commentary: The U.S. Economy Is Proving Critics Wrong Yet Again

Minnesota Sun Staff

by Steve Cortes   The booming U.S. economy is proving the Democrats wrong yet again — liberals keep predicting a recession, but businesses just keep on hiring. According to the recently published data from the Department of Labor, nonfarm payrolls surged by 304,000 jobs in January, nearly doubling the 165,000 jobs that…

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The Most People in Nearly 20 Years Quit Their Jobs for Better Ones in 2018

Minnesota Sun Staff

by Tim Pearce   Roughly 2.4 percent of the Americans in the workforce quit their jobs in the past year, the fastest rate since 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS’s most recent version of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) found that an…

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Commentary: Illegal Immigration Hurts Black Americans Most

Admin
Tennessee Star

by Spencer P. Morrison   In the 19th century, savvy American saloon-owners offered free lunches to attract noontime patrons. Inevitably, the diners would get thirsty and buy expensive drinks—thus was born the expression, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Despite its humble origins, the phrase captures a deep…

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Jobless Welfare Claims Near a Five-Decade Low

Admin

by Tim Pearce   The number of Americans claiming unemployment insurance fell unexpectedly in late September after economists anticipated destruction from Hurricane Florence to hold claim numbers steady. The number of unemployment filings edged back toward the lowest rate in nearly five decades. The four-week moving average fell to the lowest rate since…

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Robots Will Continue to ‘Take Jobs,’ and Humans Will Continue to Create More

Admin
robot automation

by Joseph Sunde   Given the breakneck pace of improvements in automation and artificial intelligence, fears about job loss and human obsolescence continue to consume the cultural imagination. The question looms: What is the future of human work in a technological age? Innovators such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates have done their share…

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Tennessee Adds 45,000 Jobs Over Past Year

Jason M. Reynolds
Handshake deal

Tennessee’s unemployment rates remain low and the state added 45,000 jobs the past year, the National Federation of Independent Business said. According to the March 2018 numbers from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 82 of the state’s 95 counties saw lower unemployment rates that month than they…

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