Reade Pickert

More than 70,000 child-care programs are estimated to be in danger of closing.

More than 70,000 daycare programs at risk of closure, threatening US women’s workforce gains

September 6, 2023 at 7:34 p.m.

The historic labor force gains U.S. women have made in recent months are at risk of stalling or even reversing as a pandemic-era lifeline to daycare providers expires, with more...

Despite some recent cooling in the labor market, many companies are still struggling to fill positions and limit attrition.

More US job offers include retirement benefits, student loan help to lure workers

May 10, 2023 at 4:51 p.m.

Over a year of rapid wage growth has U.S. companies turning to enhanced benefits to attract and retain workers. Mentions of employee benefits in job postings on ZipRecruiter soared to...

Businesses are confronting a workforce more addicted than ever to opioids and other drugs.

Opioids rip through US workforce, with deaths at record level

June 17, 2021 at 8:28 p.m.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic was the drug epidemic. Its relentless toll added a record 90,722 overdose deaths in the U.S. for the year through November 2020, a grim number obscured...

A man walks into a restaurant displaying a "Now Hiring" sign March 4, 2021, in Salem, New Hampshire. U.S. employers added a robust 379,000 jobs last month, the most since October and a sign that the economy is strengthening as confirmed viral cases drop, consumers spend more and states and cities ease business restrictions.

Experts predict US economy ready to surge with stimulus, expanding vaccines

March 8, 2021 at 8:32 p.m.

With Democrats on the verge of passing an almost $2 trillion stimulus bill and COVID-19 vaccinations moving ahead, the U.S. economic outlook is much sunnier than it looked in early...

Unemployment claims| <a href=https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf>Initial unemployment claims seasonally adjusted</a> (week ending May 23, 2020): 2,123,000</p> |

<p>More than 2.1 million people filed a new unemployment claim for the week ending May 23. It indicates that companies that retained their staff through March and April may have needed to close in mid-May, or may have faced a slowdown that affected their ability to keep people employed.</p>

The first female recession threatens to wipe out decades of progress for US women

October 1, 2020 at 2:34 p.m.

Women helped pull the U.S. economy out of the last recession. This time around they are falling behind. The pandemic is disproportionately affecting women and threatening to wipe out decades...

The first female recession threatens to wipe out decades of progress for US women

September 30, 2020 at 9:46 p.m.

Women helped pull the U.S. economy out of the last recession. This time around they are falling behind. The pandemic is disproportionately affecting women and threatening to wipe out decades...

A "For Rent" sign hangs on a closed shop July 13, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic in Miami Beach, Florida. Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced layoffs during the pandemic now believe their lost jobs will not return, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows.

Nearly 1 in 4 ‘temporary’ layoffs during the coronavirus pandemic may end up being permanent

August 25, 2020 at 2:48 p.m.

The rehiring of temporarily laid-off workers will continue to bolster the U.S. labor market's recovery in the months ahead, but Goldman Sachs Group expects almost a quarter of those layoffs...

Chicago Workforce center is seen April 29, 2020, in Chicago. The $600 a week in extra federal unemployment benefits is set to end July 25.

America’s unemployed are about to lose $600-a-week coronavirus lifeline. ‘I don’t know what will happen.’

July 15, 2020 at 6:16 p.m.

Soon millions of Americans could lose a crucial economic lifeline of this pandemic: $600 a week in extra federal unemployment benefits. The scheduled end will ripple through households and the...

US initial jobless claims worse than forecast at 1.51 million

June 18, 2020 at 10:21 p.m.

Applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell less than forecast last week, showing only gradual improvement from the worst of the pandemic-related layoffs even as states re-open more of...

U.S. jobless claims top 3 million, with little relief in sight

May 8, 2020 at 10:09 p.m.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits topped 3 million for a seventh straight week, signaling little relief in sight for the economy since the coronavirus began closing restaurants,...

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