u s department of labor

• Business

Maryland loses jobs in February, but state's unemployment rate remains 3.7 percent

Maryland lost 5,800 jobs in February in several categories such as education and health, manufacturing and transportation, but the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent.

By Meredith Cohn

Mar 22, 2019

• Business

Amid immigration debate, Maryland crab industry looks for rebound after getting few foreign workers last year

‘Extremely lucky’ Maryland crab industry is weathering a storm over Mexican worker shortages. But the industry says issues remain with a program that supplies it with needed guest workers to pick crabs.

By Jeff Barker

Mar 14, 2019

• Business

Unemployment in Maryland falls to lowest level in 11 years as economy adds jobs in January

Maryland added more jobs in January, continuing slow and steady gains.

By Meredith Cohn

Mar 11, 2019

• Maryland

Harford County hotel owner ordered to pay back wages, damages to employees

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigators say Akhilbhai Patel, manager of Blissful Enterprises LLC and owner of ENA Hotels LLC in Edgewood, allegedly violated overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

By Lillian Reed

Feb 19, 2019

• Maryland

Maryland lawmakers want to open unemployment benefits to all federal workers

Maryland Democrats are moving forward with emergency legislation to allow federal employees forced to work without pay during a government shutdown to collect unemployment insurance in the state.

• Business

Unemployment rate in Maryland continues to drop in November

Maryland’s unemployment rate dropped to 4 percent in November, from 4.1 percent the month before, reflecting a solid labor market that economists say could help the state withstand the budget uncertainty in Washington.

By Meredith Cohn

Dec 21, 2018

• Maryland

State of Business in Carroll County: open to manufacturers

At the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce’s “State of Business” luncheon, Carroll County Department of Economic Development Director Jack Lyburn outlined why Carroll is the right place for business, and now is the right time for new businesses — especially manufacturers — to come.

• Business

Maryland unemployment rate ticks down to 4.2 percent in August

The unemployment rate in Maryland ticked down in August to 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent the previous month, but remained higher than a year ago when the rate was 4 percent.

By Meredith Cohn

Sep 21, 2018

• Business

Maryland's unemployment rate stays constant in July at 4.3 percent

The most jobs were lost in leisure and hospitality, which dropped 1,400 positions.

By Meredith Cohn

Aug 17, 2018

• Business

Maryland unemployment rate holds steady in May at 4.3 percent

Maryland's unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous month, a bit higher than the national rate.

By Meredith Cohn

Jun 15, 2018

• Business

Four recent worker deaths reflects rise in fatal workplace injuries in Maryland

Fatal workplace injuries jumped 33 percent in Maryland in 2016, the most recent year for which statistics were available.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Jun 15, 2018

• Maryland

Safe Kids Carroll: Tips to help youths avoid farm-related injuries

As summer approaches, and youths begin to work on the farm, Safe Kids Carroll County Coalition wants to ensure safety by monitoring size, physical strength, training and cognitive ability as well as age of the youth when deciding farm chores and jobs.

• Maryland

Baltimore fire officials say no barriers in place to keep deep trench from collapsing and killing worker

A 19-year-old Glen Burnie man was killed Tuesday while digging a sewer line in Northeast Baltimore’s Clifton Park. State officials are investigating the death of Kyle Hancock in the trench collapse in the 2000 block of Sinclair Lane.

• Business

More employers offering paid summer internships, despite federal rule changes to make it easier to hire unpaid interns

New federal guidelines have made it easier than ever for employers to count interns as non-employees — and not pay them. But despite the changes, more employers are offering interns wages to go with the experience they gain.

By Lorraine Mirabella

May 31, 2018

• Business

Unemployment steady as Maryland adds 5,400 jobs in November

Maryland added an estimated 5,400 jobs in November as the state economy gained steam going into the holidays. The state’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.9 percent, below the national rate of 4.1 percent.

By Christopher Dinsmore

Dec 22, 2017

• Opinion

GOP tax plan offers costly table scraps for the middle class

House Republican tax bill is a $1.5 trillion gift to the rich, not average Americans.

• Business

Maryland's unemployment rate improved in May

Maryland's unemployment rate improved slightly last month, but at the same time the state lost some jobs, according to preliminary government data released Friday

By Lorraine Mirabella

Jun 16, 2017

• Safe Carroll:

Safety tips for youths working on farms

As summer approaches, and youths begin to work on the farm, Safe Kids Carroll County Coalition wants to ensure safety by monitoring size, physical strength,

• Business

Maryland added 3,500 jobs in April

Maryland added 3,500 jobs in April, but the state's unemployment rate ticked up slightly, as more people joined the workforce than were able to find jobs, according to the latest federal jobs report.

By Sarah Gantz

May 19, 2017

• Opinion

U.S. Senate to retirees: Let them eat dog food

Republicans in Congress have decided that state's rights don't apply to retiree savings

• Opinion

Puzder can't be labor secretary; he's anti-labor

The United States Department of Labor is critically important to Maryland's workforce, and its secretary has the tremendous responsibility of advancing its mission. We must demand that the person charged with that awesome responsibility is passionate about improving working conditions and promotfing the welfare of working families. Mr. Puzder, a corporate CEO with a disdain for his own employees and the workplace laws that protect them, is not that person. Regardless of party affiliation or

• Baltimore City

Federal task force on Baltimore winds down as Trump's urban policy remains uncertain

The Obama administration has directed $110 million in new funding to Baltimore since last year's riots, according to a report to be released today by a White House task force that is winding down as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office.

By John Fritze

Dec 14, 2016

• Business

Blood incidents prompt OSHA to fine Brooklyn Postal Service location $342,000

A United States Postal Service annex in Brooklyn has been fined $342,059 by the U.S. Department of Labor for improperly handling workers' exposure to bloodborne pathogens and hazardous materials.

By Sarah Gantz

Dec 1, 2016

• Business

Economists see mixed signs in Maryland's September jobs report

Maryland payrolls declined sharply in August, but recovered some ground last month, according to new estimates the U.S. Labor Department released Friday.

By Natalie Sherman

Oct 21, 2016

• U.S. Department of Labor

Maryland DLLR awarded grant to improve employment for disabled people

The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation was awarded a $2.5 million federal grant announced Wednesday to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

By Carrie Wells

Sep 14, 2016

• Obituaries

Joseph E. Pipkin, former Glenn L. Martin engineer, dies

Joseph E. Pipkin, a retired electrical and standards engineer who worked for nearly three decades for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, died Monday from cancer at Lorien Mays Chapel in Timonium. He was 91.

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

Sep 14, 2016

• Business

Jessup demolition contractor sued by Department of Labor for alleged discrimination

Potomac Abatement allegedly forced Hispanic workers into lower-paying jobs and fired 17 African American workers.

By Sarah Gantz

Aug 30, 2016

• Business

Do smartphones hurt productivity?

While most workers own mobile phones and keep them within sight, some employers see them as productivity killers and a few are banning or otherwise regulating them, experts say.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Jul 21, 2016

• Maryland

Important pointers for keeping kids safe on the farm

As summer approaches and youth begin to work on the farm, Safe Kids Carroll County Coalition wants to ensure safety by monitoring size, physical strength, training and cognitive ability, as well as age of youth, when deciding farm chores and jobs.

• Business

Labor Dept: Baltimore-area Enterprise Rent-A-Car discriminated against black applicants

The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a Baltimore-area subsidiary of Enterprise Holdings, accusing the car rental company of discriminating against black applicants when selecting people for the management track.

By Natalie Sherman

Jun 9, 2016

• Business

On-the-job injuries will be posted online in safety push

Incidents of on-the-job injuries at specific employers are about to become public for the first time in an online, searchable database, part of a federal push to shed light on and improve worker conditions.

By Lorraine Mirabella

May 20, 2016

• Business

Stricter standards on the way for retirement account advisers

Most investors likely assume their advisers consider their clients' best interests to guide their investments, but that hasn't been required under federal rules for financial professionals. That's about to change. A new rule, unveiled last week by the U.S. Department of Labor after months of revisions, will hold advisers to a stricter standard for retirement advice, minimizing potential conflicts of interests that have led savers into sometimes expensive or complicated investments.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Apr 9, 2016

• Opinion

Bessie Margolin: a lawyer, feminist and mentor

Just in time for Women's History Month, Baltimore lawyer Marlene Trestman — a Goucher College graduate and former special assistant to the Maryland attorney general — presents us with a biography of Bessie Margolin, a pioneering advocate in the Supreme Court of the United States from the dawn of the New Deal to the first term of Richard Nixon.

• Business

Millions more white-collar workers could qualify for overtime under proposed federal rule

The Department of Labor is proposing an update to rules governing which white-collar workers are exempt from overtime pay. The proposal would make an additional five million employees eligible, more than doubling the existing salary threshold from $23,660 to $50,440.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Jan 30, 2016

• Opinion

After federal move, paid parental leave programs starting to expand in U.S. cities

President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2015 directing agencies to allow federal workers to take six weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn child and urged states and cities to follow suit. Progress has been slow, but momentum is building.

• Obituaries

Mary Ann McCardell Daily, former Walters Art Museum publicist, dies

Mary Ann McCardell Daily, 84, a former Walters Art Museum public relations director died Saturday of dementia complications.

By Jacques Kelly

Dec 28, 2015

• Business

Maryland adds 3,600 jobs in November, but jobless rate climbs

Maryland added 3,600 jobs in November, but the unemployment rate increased to 5.2 percent, according to government figures released Friday.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Dec 18, 2015

• Howard County

Rose chosen as HCC adviser [History Matters]

• Obituaries

Anthony A. 'Tony' Abato Jr.

Anthony A. "Tony" Abato Jr., a retired Baltimore attorney who had been a partner in the law firm of Abato & Abato, died Aug. 8 of lung cancer at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. He was 82.

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

Sep 3, 2015

• Maryland

Carroll Community College to launch cybersecurity program

Carroll Community College is launching a cybersecurity program this fall, which school officials say will meet the growing demand for cyber security professionals.

• Minority Groups

Federal lawsuit accuses Baltimore staffing agency of discriminating against Hispanics

U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday it had filed a lawsuit against a Baltimore-based staffing agency for federal contractors, accusing the firm of harassing and discriminating against its Hispanic construction workers.

By Carrie Wells

Jun 17, 2015

• Business

Md. seafood businesses stand to benefit from discovery of unused guest worker visas

A crucial labor pipeline for Maryland seafood businesses reopened Friday just in time for crab season, when the Department of Homeland Security promised as many as 6,000 more visas for foreign workers

By Lorraine Mirabella

Jun 5, 2015

• Health

Equal coverage for mental and medical health remains an issue, studies show

Mental health advocates and researchers question whether health insurers are meeting state and federal requirements for coverage parity between mental health and medical care. Laws require a patient's access and costs should be no different for those seeking mental health care than for those seeking medical care.

By Meredith Cohn

Apr 3, 2015

• Opinion

Obama administration must act to save guestworker visa program

• Politics

Lawmakers, administration seek fix on guest worker program

Lawmakers from Maryland and the Obama administration are scrambling to fight a federal court order that has shut down the guest worker program that connects foreigners with crab-picking jobs on the Eastern Shore and other low-paying, seasonal work around the country.

By John Fritze

Mar 17, 2015

• Opinion

Expect Friday job numbers to be fixed [Letter]

Expect Friday's jobs numbers to tell a flattering story for Democrats anxious to hold onto the Senate

• Politics

Perez draws attention for attorney general

Fourteen months after he took his seat at the head of the U.S. Department of Labor, Marylander Thomas E. Perez is being eyed for an even more prominent position in President Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet: As a successor to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

• Politics

Perez draws attention for attorney general

• Job Fairs and Hiring Events

Looking for work — again and again

For Jeanne Keen of Dundalk, life amid the long-term unemployed means job applications, financial struggles and the occasional small triumph.

• Maryland

Celebrating to the very end