WASHINGTON – Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su issued the following statement on the August 2023 Employment Situation report: 

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 187,000 jobs, an indication that the economy continues its strong and steady growth as we return to normal following the breakneck pace of our rapid recovery. Solid increases in health care and social assistance, along with continued gains in construction and manufacturing, also reflect broad economic growth across different sectors.

“As more people entered the labor market looking for work, the labor force participation rate increased to a post-pandemic recovery high of 62.8 percent. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.8 percent from 3.5 percent in July because more people saw an opportunity to work, and they started looking for a job. This is another sign of the optimism that people are feeling about this economy—they’re not sitting on the sidelines.

“I’m also excited to announce today that for the first time ever, BLS has started providing monthly disaggregated data for Asian American ethnic groups on key economic metrics, such as unemployment rate, employment-population ratio, and labor force participation rate. Being responsive to this new granular data on Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and other Asian workers is an important step toward rebuilding a more equitable economy and telling a more comprehensive story about the issues facing the diverse groups and communities within the larger AA and NHPI community.”

“As we head into Labor Day weekend, workers across the country have many reasons to celebrate: Bidenomics is working, and the Investing in America agenda is creating good jobs that are building pathways to the middle class for more families in every corner of the country. Over 13.5 million jobs have been added since President Biden took office, and we are moving into a new stage of stable and equitable economic growth that is delivering on the promise of good jobs for all and lowering costs for working families everywhere.” 

WASHINGTON – To celebrate and recognize extraordinary individuals whose distinctive contributions to the field of labor elevated working conditions, wages and overall quality of life of America's working families, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced new inductees into its Hall of Honor.

The inductions will begin on Sept. 18 with a ceremony at which Acting Secretary Julie Su will honor the hall’s first 2023 inductees, the El Monte Thai Garment Workers.  

In August 1995, federal agents found 72 Thai workers toiling in a garment sweatshop in El Monte, California, sparking a national outcry and leading to a landmark case against human trafficking and forced labor. Through sheer determination and perseverance, the workers defied the odds and fought bravely for the freedom, rights and protections long denied to them. Their case galvanized significant changes in U.S. labor and immigration law. The workers remained in the U.S. and were provided a path to citizenship.

“The El Monte Thai garment workers serve as a lasting reminder of the importance of the Department of Labor’s mission to protect rights of all workers,” said Acting Secretary Su. “The importance of their contributions to labor and changes in federal labor and immigration laws cannot be understated. We are proud to recognize and welcome them to the department’s Hall of Honor.”

The department also announced that three individuals — Gerald Bostock, Donald Zarda and Aimee Stephens — will be inducted for their collective dedication to advancing workplace protections for the LGBTQ+ community. Each of their stories reflect the vital contributions they made to increasing workplace equity:

• Donald Zarda was living his dream as a skydiving instructor at Altitude Express in Long Island, New York, when, in 2010 he sought to ease a customer’s concern about being strapped to a male instructor by revealing to the woman that he was gay. After the customer later complained, Zarda’s employer fired him for misconduct. He sued his former employer alleging that they fired him based on his sexual orientation. In March 2014, the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled in favor of Altitude Express. Although Zarda died in October of that year, his family appealed on his behalf, citing violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
• Aimee Stephens informed her employer in 2013 that she was taking leave to undergo gender affirmation surgery and would begin presenting as a woman when she returned. The Detroit-based Harris Funeral Homes group then fired Stephens, offering a severance package in exchange for her silence. Instead, she sued her former employer for wrongful termination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and remained unwavering in her fight for civil rights until her death on May 12, 2020.
• Gerald Bostock, a child welfare advocate in Clayton County, Georgia, decided to join a gay recreational softball league in 2013 and it cost him his job and benefits. Without health care insurance, he balanced his recovery from prostate cancer with a determination and will to fight against discrimination. He sued the county, challenging previous findings that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act did not cover employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Bostock, Stephens and the Zarda family pursued their cases to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in June 2020 the court issued a 6-3 decision in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The department recognizes Gerald Bostock, Donald Zarda and Aimee Stephens for their steadfast dedication to advancing workplace protections for the LGBTQ+ community.

Induction ceremonies for Bostock, Stephens and Zarda will be announced at a later date.

Established in 1988, the Hall of Honor is located inside the north plaza of the department’s Frances Perkins Building at 200 Constitution Ave NW in Washington.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $1.3 million grant to the State of Illinois and Chicago Women in Trades to support the creation of equity plans and their adoption and increase women’s inclusion and equity in construction industry jobs. Funds will also allow Illinois to evaluate state and local workforce development programs for diversifying the clean energy and construction workforce.

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Gov. JB Pritzker made the announcement in Chicago. They were joined by the department’s Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. 

“To build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, we need a workforce that brings in all of America and this grant and others like it help to do just that,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “The Department of Labor is working closely with our partners at the federal, state and local level to ensure that workers, families and communities that have historically been left behind will benefit from the once-in-a-generation investments of the Biden-Harris administration. I’m glad to be joining Governor Pritzker to make this announcement, which will bring more women workers into good jobs in the construction industry.”   

Administered by the department’s Women’s Bureau, the Tradeswomen Building Infrastructure grant focuses on the historic investments in Illinois and throughout the nation by the Biden-Harris administration in infrastructure, manufacturing and clean energy in the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As investments continue, the grant will help ensure that women have pathways into higher-paying building trades’ pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships and construction careers, while supporting the investments in American infrastructure and clean energy. 

“I’m pleased that the Biden-Harris administration has recognized the hard work Illinois tradeswomen have put in for decades by offering support for the next generation of women training in a field that has for far too long excluded and underrepresented them,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This is another example of how infrastructure investment, and President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in particular, have uplifted entire communities through an equity-centric approach, and I’m proud Illinois continues to play a major part in that work.” 

Teams led by tradeswomen’s organizations will build equity plans, promote their adoption and guide programming to increase women’s inclusion and equity more quickly. Gender equity is an administration-wide priority.

“While women are half the U.S. labor force, they represent barely 4 percent of the skilled trades within the construction workforce,” said Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “This grant is an opportunity to flip the script to help more women gain access to these typically higher-paying jobs.”  

In addition to bringing state and local-level infrastructure, labor and workforce training agencies to the table with pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, contractors and building trades unions, the state of Illinois will work with Chicago Women in Trades to expand the parameters of their related work, which was initiated last year. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has entered into a corporate-wide settlement agreement with the operators of one of the nation’s largest discount retail chains to improve workplace safety significantly in stores nationwide. A key pillar of President Biden’s plan — Bidenomics — is empowering to grow the middle class.

The settlement agreement requires Dollar Tree and Family Dollar to conduct a comprehensive, nationwide assessment of the root causes of the violations OSHA has repeatedly cited at multiple stores, with a plan to identify causes and make operational changes to correct them within a two-year period. In the meantime, to ensure prompt abatement of any future violations related to blocked exits, access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels, and improper material storage at stores nationwide, the companies must correct hazards — within 48 hours of OSHA notifying them — and later submit proof the hazards were corrected. Failure to do so subjects the companies to monetary assessments of $100,000 per day of violation, up to $500,000, as well as OSHA inspection and enforcement actions.

“By securing this agreement with Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, the department is making good on President Biden’s commitment to be the most pro-worker administration in history,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “At the Department of Labor, we know that every worker deserves to come home safe at the end of the workday. Through our robust enforcement of workplace protections and use of innovative legal methods that resulted in this agreement, thousands of workers will have a healthier, safer and more certain future.”

“By creating incentives for companies to implement systemic solutions nationwide, the Department of Labor has created a pathway to ensuring more workers are safe and protected when they're at work,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “The Solicitor’s office and OSHA support innovative agreements under which companies commit to solve the underlying problems that create hazards. We were willing to use this approach because these companies had already taken substantial steps to address the systemic issues, which gave us confidence that this innovative approach would work.”

“This agreement focuses on improving working conditions at thousands of stores nationwide,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “Dollar Tree and Family Dollar have agreed to significant investments to more effectively identify and correct the root causes of the hazards most commonly found during OSHA inspections, including blocked exits and unstable stacking of materials.”

The companies have also agreed to pay $1.35 million in penalties to settle existing contested as well as open inspections of similar alleged violations.

Entered on Aug. 17, 2023, the corporate-wide settlement agreement covers all Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores within federal OSHA jurisdiction. As part of the agreement, which may last up to two years, the company will form safety advisory groups with extensive employee representation, enhance hazard identification and control programs, develop an audit program, create a new employee training program and hire additional safety professionals.

Dollar Tree has also agreed to maintain a 24-hour hotline to receive safety complaints and establish a tracking system to ensure complaints are addressed. The company will also hold quarterly meetings between OSHA and its Dollar Tree and Family Dollar operations to discuss progress towards systemic improvements.

The company first signed a corporate-wide settlement agreement with OSHA in 2015, which expired in 2018.

Based in Chesapeake, Virginia, Dollar Tree operates more than 16,000 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores in 48 states and Canada, and is one of the nation’s largest chains of discount retail locations as Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores. The company also maintains a nationwide logistics network and employs more than 193,000 people.

WASHINGTON – Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su issued the following statement on the July 2023 Employment Situation report: 

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 187,000 jobs in the month of July — and added an average of 218,000 jobs per month over the past three months — continuing the steady and stable growth that is bringing economic security to workers and families across the country. The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5 percent, continuing the longest period of under 4-percent unemployment in over 50 years. Healthcare, social assistance, construction, and financial activities all gained jobs in July. 

“This jobs report is the latest evidence that the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda is expanding pathways to the middle class and leaving no one behind. The solid job market continues to deliver employment and earnings opportunities for our growing workforce, with average hourly earnings increasing 4.4 percent over the year and with the share of working-age Americans who have jobs at a 20-year high. For the fifth straight month, the labor force participation rate sits at 62.6 percent — a sign of the labor market staying on course and navigating changes to the makeup of our working population. 

“Bidenomics is growing our economy from the middle out and the bottom up — not the top down. With 13.4 million jobs added since President Biden took office, this progress continues the sustained economic growth that benefits working families and moves our economy toward the next phase of recovery. The American people are feeling the results of this stable and strong economy in their everyday lives — whether it be at the grocery store or the gas pump, or at places like hair and nail salons — where they feel more confident spending money again. This administration will continue to work to ensure that equitable growth powers economic gains for all working families.” 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and its partners from the Interagency Task Force to Combat Child Labor Exploitation today announced its recent actions to hold companies accountable for violating federal child labor laws.

The update follows the department’s February 2023 announcement of the task force’s formation, which applies a whole-of-government approach to enhance federal efforts to protect children from exploitative situations following a 69 percent increase in findings of illegal child labor between 2018 and 2022.

“The Biden-Harris administration, Department of Labor and members of the Interagency Task Force to Combat Child Labor Exploitation are leaving no stone unturned to root out exploitative child labor,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Child labor is an issue that gets to the heart of who we are as a country and who we want to be. Like the President, we believe that any child working in a dangerous or hazardous environment is one child too many. The Department of Labor is using the tools and resources at our disposal to ensure companies take responsibility for compliance with federal labor law, and that includes up and down their supply chains. We must all work together to make sure that children are safe, healthy and protected from exploitation.”

The Department of Labor-led Interagency Task Force to Combat Child Labor Exploitation furthers collaboration and improves information-sharing among agencies. The task force participants include the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, and State, all of which are taking concrete steps to improve cross-training, outreach, education and health outcomes of children that could be subject to child labor.

Since the launch of these enhanced efforts, the department and task force have engaged with agencies across federal, state and local governments, resulting in new collaborative initiatives to prevent and address illegal child labor, that include the following:

Increasing focus on vigorously enforcing federal law and holding employers accountable:

• The department’s Wage and Hour Division has significantly enhanced child labor enforcement efforts. Between Oct. 1, 2022 and July 20, 2023, as a result of this stepped-up enforcement, the agency concluded 765 child labor cases finding 4,474 children employed in violation of federal child labor laws and assessed employers with more than $6.6 million in penalties. These cases reflect a 44 percent increase in children found employed in violation of federal law and an 87 percent increase in penalties assessed from the same time period in the previous fiscal year. In addition, the agency is currently pursuing more than 700 open child labor cases. This enforcement data demonstrates the department’s commitment to identifying and addressing the child labor violations more aggressively than in the department’s history.
• On May 2, 2023, the department announced findings that three businesses operating 62 McDonald’s locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio had employed 305 children to work more than the legally permitted hours and perform tasks prohibited by law for young workers. In all, the investigations led to assessments of $212,544 in civil money penalties against the employers. Earlier this week, the department announced that 16 McDonald’s franchise locations in Louisiana and Texas have found child labor violations affecting 83 minors. The division determined one franchisee allowed three children to operate manual deep fryers, a task prohibited for employees under age 16. The department assessed more than $77,500 in civil money penalties to two McDonald’s franchisees for its violations.
• On July 7, 2023, the department announced that it had invoked the Fair Labor Standards Act “hot goods” provision to prevent shipment of goods produced using illegal child labor after finding two teenagers employed in violation of child labor laws at a Minnesota meat snack manufacturer.
• The department found that the operator of six Nevada Sonic Drive-In locations illegally employed 14- and 15-year-old teenagers to work more hours and at times not permitted by federal child labor regulations, assigned them to operate manual deep fryers, and had committed more than 170 violations of the child labor provisions of the FLSA.

Emphasizing cross-training to ensure that every agency has the necessary skills to identify and report possible incidences of child labor exploitation:

• Partner agencies have intensified information-sharing and cross-training to ensure agencies across the federal government understand child labor exploitation and the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to address it.
• The departments of Labor and Health and Human Services successfully collaborated on cross-training initiatives for over 780 Office of Refugee Resettlement staff and over 250 Wage and Hour Division managers related to the eradication of illegal child labor in a four-month period. Building on the success of these trainings, the departments are broadening their scope to provide trainings in July and August for other programs and HHS’ national network where there may be overlapping interest between labor exploitation and the populations that HHS serves daily, including homeless and runaway youth programs and state child welfare agencies.
• On June 12, 2023, HHS’ Administration for Children and Families marked World Day Against Child Labor with a training for nearly 400 ACF staff to help them identify possible instances of child labor exploitation in their day-to-day work with grantees and external partners throughout the country.
• In addition to collaborating closely with the agencies participating in the task force, the Department of Labor has engaged with the departments of Defense, Energy, Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and Treasury, and with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Corporation for National and Community Service, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Agency for International Development on how to identify, prevent and report child labor exploitation.

Updating and creating new materials to ensure partners, employers, and the general public are armed with the information needed to prevent child labor violations:

• The Wage and Hour Division has updated its child labor website and additional resources to clarify and streamline information for children, parents, employers and educators about federal child labor laws, including providing clear information about dangerous and prohibited jobs and, additionally, explaining ways to provide positive and safe work experiences for teens.
• Given the importance of promoting understanding of labor law for youth-specific audiences, the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services are developing shareable, easily accessible “Know Your Rights” videos in multiple languages.
• The Department of Homeland Security is identifying opportunities to share resources and to have the Department of Labor engage key state and local partners and public stakeholders on federal labor law and efforts to combat child labor exploitation.
• The Department of Education is sharing information through newsletters, websites, and social media, ensuring that education stakeholders have greater understanding about the issue and can further inform young people and families about their rights.

Pursuing innovative partnerships and avenues to engage every facet of the federal government:

• The departments of Labor and State have briefed ambassadors and embassy leadership from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico on efforts to combat exploitative child labor in the U.S., including of migrant children. The agencies continue to share resources and tools with consulates to further educate migrant communities.
• The Department of Health and Human Services’ National Human Trafficking Prevention Summit expanded specific sessions and workshops to include child labor exploitation and the impact on youth and their communities for this year’s program.
• In April 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture sent a letter to the 18 largest meat and poultry processors, representing approximately 70 percent of meat and poultry production by volume, requesting that all actors in the food supply chain take important precautionary steps to prevent or eliminate illegal child labor. These steps include determining whether illegal child labor is being used anywhere in their supply chain, incorporating stronger standards in supplier and vendor contracts, and adopting supplier standards that will better guard against the use of illegal child labor. In the months since, USDA has engaged in productive conversations with industry leaders about how they are working to ensure that their supply chains are free of illegal child labor. USDA is continuing to explore enforcement mechanisms and considering aspects of regulatory infrastructure that support the department’s ability to strengthen compliance and provide the necessary attention and oversight.
• The departments of Labor and Justice are partnering through the Legal Orientation Program for Custodians of Unaccompanied Children to educate custodians of unaccompanied children on federal child labor laws and protections through new materials and information provided during the LOPC orientations.
• The departments of Labor and Justice are also collaborating to educate Office for Victims of Crime grantees and stakeholders to ensure that service providers for victims of crime have greater awareness about exploitative child labor, information on how to report suspected child labor violations, and resources to share with their clients and communities.

“While there still remains much to do in the effort to root out child labor in this country, the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of Labor and the Task Force and its members are fully committed to using every governmental lever possible under federal law and current funding levels to stop the exploitation of young people in workplaces across the country,” Acting Secretary Su added.

WASHINGTON – Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su released the following statement after a tentative labor agreement was reached today between leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS: 

“Today, leadership from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS reached an historic tentative agreement covering more than 340,000 Teamsters nationwide, ensuring stability for workers, businesses and the American economy. On behalf of the Biden-Harris administration, we applaud the parties for their perseverance and focus in achieving this hard-won, mutually beneficial deal. UPS and the Teamsters are a model of what a positive, productive labor-management partnership can achieve. They’ve also demonstrated, yet again, that when the collective bargaining process is allowed to work, the results are invariably good for workers, good for business, and good for America.”  

WASHINGTON – At the Department of Labor today, Acting Secretary Julie Su joined Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Environmental Protection Agency Chief of Staff Dan Utech and other key stakeholders to discuss good jobs in the clean economy and how their agencies will collaborate to create good quality jobs in infrastructure, clean energy, manufacturing and technology as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s “Investing in America” agenda.

“The benefits made possible by our partnership will show we don’t need to choose between good jobs and climate action when, in fact, we can achieve both,” said Acting Secretary Julie Su. “The Investing in America agenda gives us an historic opportunity to put workers first and act to address climate change and other environmental concerns. It also allows us to include workers and communities historically left behind.”

Memorandums of understanding signed between the Departments of Labor and the Interior and between the Department of Labor and the EPA will enable all three departments to share resources and expertise to guide their actions to meet their shared goals to expand an equitable and diverse workforce while taking significant action to combat climate change.

“With funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are putting historic resources into the American workforce throughout our nation that support conservation, legacy pollution cleanup, outdoor recreation, and our collective effort to address the climate crisis,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “I’m thrilled that our new Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Labor will support continued cooperative efforts that help us draw on the strength and creativity of every worker in America.”

The participants also discussed their collaborative effort to make federal infrastructure, regional economic development and workforce development priorities while creating good-paying, high-quality jobs that offer workers the free and fair choice to form or join a union.

“From day one President Biden promised a whole-of-government approach to tackle the climate crisis and grow our clean energy economy, and thanks to his Investing in America Agenda, we are matching historic resources with community driven solutions to do just that,” said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Under this Memorandum of Understanding with our partners at the Department of Labor, we’re going to ensure that all communities can participate in this clean energy transition and that we create good paying jobs in the process.”

During the event, Acting Secretary Su also moderated a panel discussion with Lee Geisse, regional program manager with the BlueGreen Alliance in Canton, Ohio; Frank Howard III of Howard Concrete Pumping Inc. in Cleveland; and Wayne L. Richardson, president of the Essex County Board of County Commissioners in New Jersey on how federal collaboration can help workers and local communities.

Read the department’s MOU with the Department of the Interior.

Read the department’s MOU with the Environmental Protection Agency.

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary Julie Su welcomed mayors and representatives from 16 cities, along with other leaders of government, business and labor; and key stakeholders to open the first of a two-day meeting of the “Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy,” which helps cities launch and scale innovative workforce initiatives to create pathways to good quality jobs. 

Convened by the department, National League of Cities and other partners, the meeting also spotlights the academy’s work to support city-led efforts to train and place workers, specifically from historically underserved and underrepresented communities, in quality jobs in high-demand industries such as infrastructure, clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

The event is part of a comprehensive effort to connect workers with jobs made possible by the Biden-Harris administration’s ‘Investing in America’ agenda. 

“Here at the Department of Labor, creating good jobs is our North Star and we are laser focused on connecting workers to these good jobs, including workers who have been left out in the past,” Acting Secretary Su shared with attendees. “The Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy was born out of the incredible opportunities we have in this moment. We knew that to deliver on the promise of manufacturing, infrastructure and clean energy in America, a partnership between the Department of Labor and America’s innovative cities was an important path forward.”  

Among those joining the meeting today were federal and local government leaders, representatives from the National League of Cities, business and labor leaders, and other critical stakeholders. 

White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu, and White House Senior Advisor and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Tom Perez also delivered remarks at the event.

The academy provides its members with technical assistance to support and accelerate each city’s efforts to design and launch workforce initiatives to meet the demands of their regional economies. Cities included in the academy are Birmingham, Alabama; Tempe, Arizona; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Kokomo, Indiana; Frederick, Maryland; Lansing, Michigan; Duluth, Minnesota; Saint Louis, Missouri; Missoula, Montana; Newark, New Jersey; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Jamestown, New York; Monroe, North Carolina; Chattanooga, Tennessee; San Antonio, Texas; and Tacoma, Washington. 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the June 2023 Employment Situation report:

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 209,000 jobs in the month of June, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.6 percent, continuing the longest stretch of sub-4 percent unemployment since the 1960s. With 13.2 million jobs added since President Biden took office and an average of 244,000 jobs added per month over the past three months, this progress continues the steady, stable economic growth that benefits working families.

“The Biden-Harris administration has implemented an investment agenda that prioritizes expanding the middle class and leaving no one behind. The solid job market continues to deliver employment and earnings opportunities for our growing workforce, with average hourly earnings increasing 4.4 percent over the year.

“For the third straight month, a new historic high for labor force participation rate for prime working-age women was set at 77.8 percent. Women, as they so often do, have strengthened our labor force when called upon, and we must remain committed to addressing structural barriers to their full flourishing in their careers.

“Bidenomics is rooted in the notion that growth must be broadly shared by diverse communities throughout this nation. I am proud of the confidence that President Biden has shown in me to continue this work and ensure that equitable growth powers sustained economic gains for working families.”