Vivian Dong is a student at Harvard Law School.
The U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs in November, decreasing the unemployment rate from 4.9% to 4.6%, the lowest it has been since 2007. However, average hourly earnings decreased by 0.1%. The Department of Labor revised its September and October data to remove 2000 jobs. The solid performance paves the way for a long-rumored federal rate increase.
President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence successfully negotiated with Carrier, a heating and cooling manufacturer, to keep 1000 factory jobs in the United States. Carrier rose to media prominence earlier in 2016 when a video emerged of management announcing to factory floor workers that their jobs would be outsourced to Mexico. Details about the President-elect’s deal with Carrier emerged Thursday morning. United Technologies Corp., Carrier’s parent company, will receive $7 million in tax breaks over 10 years in exchange for not outsourcing the jobs. According to the Indiana Business Journal however, the bigger motivation for Carrier was the threat of losing federal contracts. Senator Bernie Sanders criticized Trump for acceding to Carrier by giving it tax breaks to prevent the outsourcing.
Michigan passed legislation yesterday to take regulatory powers over ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft away from local authorities and grant them instead to the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Communities that have existing agreements with ride-sharing services can maintain their agreements for four years. The legislation would make Uber and Lyft subject to the same regulation as taxis. Uber officials supported the legislation, as it would enable its drivers to pick up and drop off customers at airports.
Daily News & Commentary
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February 23
In today’s news and commentary, the Trump administration proposes a rule limiting employment authorization for asylum seekers and Matt Bruenig introduces a new LLM tool analyzing employer rules under Stericycle. Law360 reports that the Trump administration proposed a rule on Friday that would change the employment authorization process for asylum seekers. Under the proposed rule, […]
February 22
A petition for certiorari in Bivens v. Zep, New York nurses end their historic six-week-strike, and Professor Block argues for just cause protections in New York City.
February 20
An analysis of the Board's decisions since regaining a quorum; 5th Circuit dissent criticizes Wright Line, Thryv.
February 19
Union membership increases slightly; Washington farmworker bill fails to make it out of committee; and unions in Argentina are on strike protesting President Milei’s labor reform bill.
February 18
A ruling against forced labor in CO prisons; business coalition lacks standing to challenge captive audience ban; labor unions to participate in rent strike in MN
February 17
San Francisco teachers’ strike ends; EEOC releases new guidance on telework; NFL must litigate discrimination and retaliation claims.