Today’s News & Commentary — February 9, 2016

President Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, Andrew Puzder, has been scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on February 16. This is the fourth time the hearing has been scheduled after delays which, according to The Hill, gave Puzder more time to separate himself from CKE, which owns the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast food chains. Today, Senate Democrats including Senator Chuck Schumer and labor advocates demanded President Trump withdraw the nomination.

According to a survey and report compiled by The Upshot, about 40 percent of Americans in their early twenties receive some financial assistance from their parents for living expenses. The report cites a rapidly changing labor market where skilled work is increasingly concentrated in high-rent metropolitan areas, making monthly expenditures such as rent difficult for young workers to keep up with.

Fortune published an article about what U.S. businesses might expect should Judge Gorsuch become Justice Gorsuch. According to the piece, Judge Gorsuch has recently ruled in favor of enforcing arbitration clauses and has favored employers in recent employment discrimination cases. If you’re interested in more details, check out previous On Labor pieces about Judge Gorsuch’s record.

Economist Jared Bernstein wrote a piece in the Washington Post evaluating pressures at play in U.S. labor markets and unemployment numbers. He argues there are three reasons we have yet to reach full employment: the underemployment employment rate is still too high; employment rates are still too low; and wage pressures are still too mild.