Tag Archives: Labor and Jobs

Ronald Reagan and his fellow Republicans once invoked what they referred to as “welfare queens” as they made the case for reining in social spending in the 1970s and 1980s, painting a picture of unscrupulous women bilking the system to finance a sumptuous lifestyle. Now as they try to justify cuts to Medicaid, congressional Republicans are focused on a different …

Amsterdam prospered as a banking center even as it declined as a center of manufacturing and commerce. By the late 18th century, Europe no longer wanted Dutch fabrics or Dutch fish, and it no longer needed Dutch ships. In 1783, a group of Dutch merchants sent a gift of salted herring to George Washington, requesting his endorsement and, presumably, seeking …

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged skittish global business leaders on Monday to ignore President Trump’s economic naysayers and ramp up investment in the United States, defending an economic agenda that economists warn will slow economic growth and exacerbate inflation. Speaking to executives, entrepreneurs and policymakers, Mr. Bessent argued that the Trump administration’s economic plans go beyond trade policy and will …

China, the world’s clean-energy juggernaut, faces a rival right next door. And one of its top customers, no less. India, a big buyer of Chinese solar panels and electric vehicle batteries, is using a raft of government incentives to make more green gear at home. It is driven not just by the need to satisfy the galloping energy demands of …

The Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that it would disperse scientists from its independent research office to other divisions where they among other things will be tasked with approving the use of new chemicals. Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the changes to the E.P.A. in a video, saying the agency was “shifting its scientific expertise” to focus on issues he …

The labor market remained sound in March, with job openings declining but layoffs remaining near record lows, while rates of new hiring were slow but steady, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. The numbers from last month are a snapshot of the state of the U.S. economy and labor market before the start of …

Federal health officials have reversed the decision to fire a few dozen scientists at the Food and Drug Administration’s food-safety labs, and say they are conducting a review to determine if other critical posts were cut. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the rehirings and said that several employees would also be restored to the …

When Congress voted to normalize trade relations with China at the beginning of this century, U.S. manufacturers braced for a stream of cheap goods to begin flowing into U.S. ports. Instead, they got a flood. Imports from China nearly tripled from 1999 to 2005, and American factories, with their higher wages and stricter safety standards, couldn’t compete. The “China shock,” …

U.S. employers accelerated hiring in March, a surprising show of strength that analysts warned might be the high-water mark for the labor market as the Trump administration’s economic policies began to play out. Employers added 228,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported on Friday, a figure that was far more than expected and was up from a revised total …

For three years, the U.S. economy has been buffeted by rapid inflation, high interest rates and political instability at home and abroad. Yet it has proved surprisingly resilient, supported by the sturdy pillars of robust consumer spending, a rising stock market, and healthy balance sheets for households and businesses alike. But one by one, those pillars have begun to crack …