In the week ending January 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 223,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 217,000. The 4-week moving average was 213,500, an increase of 750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 212,750.

WASHINGTON – To overcome structural barriers such as violence and poverty that keep many young people from access to employment and reaching their potential, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $46.5 million in grants to support programs that address the impacts of community violence and help justice-involved young people succeed in the labor market. 

DECATUR, AL – Federal workplace safety investigators found that a Decatur manufacturer of GE-brand appliances failed to follow required machine standards that could have prevented a 58-year-old front-line supervisor’s fatal injuries while trying to service a door molding machine.

BRAINTREE, MA – A Wilmington construction contractor could have prevented a fatal workplace incident at the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston that claimed the life of a 44-year-old construction worker in August 2024 by following required fall protection measures, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found. 

BOSTON – A federal administrative law judge has determined that Greg Beeche Logistics, a scaffold installation company based in Waterford, New York, exposed employees to potential falls by erecting and using scaffolds that failed to meet federal workplace safety standards.

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $319,065 in back wages for 49 workers employed by a New Orleans landscaping company that misclassified them as independent contractors and, by doing so, denied them overtime pay.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment ordering two commonly owned Arizona drywall and painting companies to pay $7,450,000 in back wages and damages after investigators found the employers willfully denied overtime pay to more than 1,400 employees.

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $446,334 in back wages and liquidated damages from two northwest Louisiana home care companies that misclassified 88 workers as independent contractors, depriving them of overtime wages in violation of federal law. 

Date of action:                       Jan. 13, 2025

Type of action:                      Consent judgment and order 

RONKS, PA  - The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered a tourist railroad operator in Ronks, Pennsylvania, and a former company official to reinstate an employee and pay them back wages and damages after they were fired for refusing to issue locomotive and conductor licenses to an untrained and unqualified management official.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and injunction to recover $66,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 13 restaurant workers whose Oklahoma City employer kept employee tips and failed to pay overtime in violation of federal labor regulations.

MULBERRY, FL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation determined a Mulberry phosphatic fertilizer manufacturer failed to follow required safety standards, leading to the tragic loss of a 29-year-old process operator in July 2024. 

Date of action:           Dec. 12, 2024

Type of action:          Consent judgment

Employers:                 MSES Consultants Inc., Lawrence Rine

Employer name:               CREOKS Health Services, operating as TruHealth Integrated Care

Investigation sites:         4103 South Yale Ave., Suite C 

NEW ORLEANS – The findings of two recent U.S. Department of Labor investigations show misclassification of employees as independent contractors is an ongoing concern for home care industry workers in Louisiana and throughout the nation as the practice deprives them of their full wages and other important benefits.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today approved up to $10 million – with $1 million released initially – in emergency grant funding to California to support disaster-relief jobs and training services for those affected by the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration has issued a proposed regulation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act on the valuation of employer stock acquired or sold by an employee stock ownership plan. 

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found that a drainpipe cleaning and maintenance company could have prevented an explosion at a Port Saint Lucie worksite in June 2024 that claimed a 24-year-old worker’s life, by implementing proper safety measures to address the hazards of inflatable pipe plugs.      

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections in December 2024 at 13 mines in Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia, and issued 119 violations.