(WASHINGTON) — U.S. hiring slowed from its breakneck pace but remained robust in August, with the economy adding 315,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rising to 3.7%, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
The report comes one week after Fed Chair Jerome Powell triggered a stock sell-off and stoked recession fears with his vow to fight inflation with interest rate hikes “until the job is done.”
The Fed has instituted a series of aggressive borrowing cost increases in recent months as it tries to slash near-historic inflation by slowing the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into an economic downturn.
So far this year, however, employment has boomed. The robust hiring numbers have defied expectations and quieted fears of a major slowdown.
U.S. hiring far outpaced expectations in July, as the economy added a blockbuster 528,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last month.
The jobs added in July exceeded the already-robust hiring sustained over the first half of 2022, during which the economy added an average of 461,000 jobs each month.
Government data put out this week reinforced evidence that the jobs market remains strong. Job openings rose in July after falling for three consecutive months, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, which showed job openings on the last day of July had jumped to 11.2 million from 11 million the month prior.
The labor market has withstood the Fed’s effort to slow the economy, even as the central bank tries to bring down inflation in part by cutting demand for workers and slowing wage increases, AnnElizabeth Konkel, a senior economist with Indeed Hiring Lab, told ABC News.
At meetings in June and July, the central bank increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% each time — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.
“We aren’t seeing the employer demand get tamped down,” Konkel said. “Your interpretation of it in a macro sense depends on what hat you’re wearing.”
“If you’re a worker and see a strong labor market, that means you have choices,” she added. “You might be able to negotiate a higher wage or flexibility on work location. If you’re the Fed, it means your job just got tougher.”
(JACKSON, Miss.) — When the water stopped running at her restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi, on Monday afternoon, Tanya Burns was preparing for a private event set to begin about one hour later. Suddenly, her dishwasher didn’t work and her toilets couldn’t flush.
“How do you host something for people and you can’t flush toilets?” Burns, the manager of BRAVO! Italian Restaurant and Bar, told ABC News. She canceled the event.
“We have not been open since,” she said.
The restaurant is one of many businesses in Jackson that have suffered as the city reaches nearly a full work week of little or no water, according to interviews with local business leaders.
The financial challenges stretch back even further, they said, since the city has fallen under a boil-water notice for more than a month that puts the onus on companies to sanitize water or find alternatives, while at the same time customers dial back shopping for fear of the services a business might lack.
In an interview on ABC News Live Tuesday, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the mayor of Jackson, said the current crisis stems from up to 30 years of deferred maintenance and a lack of capital improvements to the system.
“We’ve had hotter summers, colder winters and more precipitation each year and it’s taking a toll on our infrastructure,” he said.
The crisis in recent days has only intensified the difficulties, as businesses either take on heightened costs for fixes like portable toilets and on-site water tanks that allow them to stay open, or temporarily close their doors altogether.
Jackson, a city of roughly 150,000 people, has an economy with a gross domestic product of over $28 billion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Jeff Rent, the president and CEO of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, which boasts roughly 1,400 member companies, said about 75 businesses have contacted him this week with concern about the impact of the water shortage. “It’s very dire,” he said of the crisis.
The effects of the shortage likely extend to just about every business in Jackson, he added, since many staff who live in the city cannot shower, companies that need clean water often must buy it and in-person workplaces need functioning toilets for customers and employees.
“If you do business in Jackson, this has affected you,” he said.
On the other hand, Gotta Go Site Service Rentals, which rents mobile facilities like portable toilets and hand-washing stations, has seen demand surge, the owner, Lauren McGraw, told ABC News.
“We’ve been swamped,” she said, adding that the company has been contacted by hundreds of new clients since Monday. “We’re getting so many calls we can’t handle them.”
The company, which employs 18 people and currently rents facilities to the state capitol building, purchased several hundred additional toilets from a supplier in Georgia to help meet the spike in demand, McGraw said. All of the employees are working overtime, as well as McGraw, she added.
The company has also raised prices. While prices vary widely, they’ve climbed about 50% overall, in part to account for a rise in costs as the company weathers the additional work, McGraw said.
Despite her company’s sudden growth in business, McGraw laments the devastating reason behind it.
“It’s not fun because we want to give great service,” she said. “It’s tragic to turn people down that you know need equipment and you can’t get it to them.”
Steven O’Neill, the co-owner of two Jackson-area restaurants, The Manship and Aplos, found himself in need of quick solutions when the water stopped running at his locations on Monday afternoon with customers in the middle of their meals. The restaurants informed their customers of the water shortage, let them finish their meals, and closed for the day, he said.
The two restaurants reopened the following morning and have remained in operation ever since. To do so, the company bought portable toilets and hand-washing stations, plastic plates and cutlery for customer use and water tanks that funnel clean water into the restaurants, O’Neill said.
But traffic at the restaurants has dried up, leaving the business with increased costs and a drop-off in revenue. Sales at Aplos is down 30% this week; and at The Manship, it’s down 50%. The company is barely breaking even, he said.
O’Neill has kept on all of his staff, but he may need to “make hard decisions” soon, he said.
“It’s a horrible situation to be in,” he said.
When asked whether he might take the restaurants out of Jackson altogether, he said, “It’s hard. I haven’t made that decision yet.”
(NEW YORK) — Policymakers and market watchers will be closely watching August hiring data as it comes out Friday.
The report comes one week after Fed Chair Jerome Powell triggered a stock sell-off and stoked recession fears with his vow to fight inflation with interest rate hikes “until the job is done.”
The Fed has instituted a series of aggressive borrowing cost increases in recent months as it tries to slash near-historic inflation by slowing the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into an economic downturn.
So far this year, however, employment has boomed. The robust hiring numbers have defied expectations and quieted fears of a major slowdown.
U.S. hiring far outpaced expectations in July, as the economy added 528,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, which matches a 50-year low, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last month.
The jobs added in July exceeded the already-robust hiring sustained over the first half of 2022, during which the economy added an average of 461,000 jobs each month.
Economists project hiring to have slowed from its breakneck pace, but predict fairly robust numbers in August. Predictions hold that the U.S. added 300,000 jobs last month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The experts surveyed expect the unemployment rate to remain at 3.5%.
Government data put out this week reinforced evidence that the jobs market remains strong. Job openings rose in July after falling for three consecutive months, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, which showed job openings on the last day of July had jumped to 11.2 million from 11 million the month prior.
The labor market has withstood the Fed’s effort to slow the economy, even as the central bank tries to bring down inflation in part by cutting demand for workers and slowing wage increases, AnnElizabeth Konkel, a senior economist with Indeed Hiring Lab, told ABC News.
At meetings in June and July, the central bank increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% each time — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.
“We aren’t seeing the employer demand get tamped down,” Konkel said. “Your interpretation of it in a macro sense depends on what hat you’re wearing.”
“If you’re a worker and see a strong labor market, that means you have choices,” she added. “You might be able to negotiate a higher wage or flexibility on work location. If you’re the Fed, it means your job just got tougher.”
(NEW YORK) — More than 14,000 strollers are being recalled due to an issue that can cause amputation or laceration if a child’s fingertips get caught.
The recall, posted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Thursday, said the recall impacts UPPAbaby All-Terrain RIDGE Jogging Stroller’s – which were sold at BuyBuyBaby, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Pottery Barn Kids as well as online on Amazon.
According to the notice, the stroller’s rear disc brakes have openings that can harm a non-occupant child’s fingers if they get caught in the opening while the stroller is in use.
CPSC said it was aware of at least one incident resulting in a fingertip amputation to a child who was not in the stroller while it was being used.
Consumers are advised to “immediately” stop using the recalled strollers and contact UPPAbaby to receive free replacement brake discs for both wheels.
UPPAbaby did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — High-speed internet is coming to the high seas, as Royal Caribbean announced it would implement Elon Musk’s Starlink internet on all its ships.
The company said the technology will “improve and enable” high-bandwidth activities such as video streaming and video calls on its sailings. It also said the connectivity will “make it easier for guests and crew to remain connected to work, family and friends – no matter where they are in the world.”
Starlink — a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit launched by SpaceX — was created to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world. The project boasts high-speed, low-latency internet.
Deployment will begin “immediately” and completed by the first quarter of 2023, Royal Caribbean said.
“This technology will provide game-changing internet connectivity onboard our ships, enhancing the cruise experience for guests and crew alike,” Jason Liberty, president and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Group, said in a press release.
The news comes after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized SpaceX to provide satellite internet to vehicles in motion earlier this summer.
(NEW YORK) — Passengers taking to the skies for Labor Day weekend will have a new tool to help make sure their trips are smooth — even if there’s problems with their flight.
The U.S. Department of Transportation debuted its airline customer service dashboard on Thursday, which details airlines’ “commitments” to passengers in the event of “controllable” cancellations and delays within the airline’s control, such as mechanical or staffing issues.
The dashboard also offers a breakdown of how some of the carriers will help customers in those events, such as rebooking, or offering meal and hotel vouchers.
“Passengers deserve transparency and clarity on what to expect from an airline when there is a cancellation or disruption,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a release.
“This dashboard collects that information in one place so travelers can easily understand their rights, compare airline practices and make informed decisions. The Department will continue to support passengers and to hold airlines responsible for adhering to their customer obligations,” he added.
According to the release, Buttigieg wrote a letter to airline CEOs that informed them of the plan to publish the dashboard before Labor Day, encouraging them to improve their customer service plans and, by default, offering flyers a place to compare carriers.
(NEW YORK) — Madam. C.J. Walker, the first woman to become a self-made millionaire in the U.S., is the latest figure to be honored with her own Barbie doll in Mattel’s Inspiring Women line.
Walker, the daughter of former slaves, was born in Louisiana in 1867 and later became a successful entrepreneur who founded Walker Manufacturing Co., a manufacturing company that created hair care products and cosmetics designed for Black women. She employed thousands of Black women at her company, and after building her beauty empire, went on to become a prominent activist and philanthropist, supporting orphanages and Black colleges, and advocating for civil rights organizations and women’s rights.
In 2001, A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s great-great-granddaughter and official biographer, authored a book about Walker, which served as the nonfiction inspiration for Self Made, the fictionalized Netflix series starring Octavia Spencer. Bundles is also the brand historian for MADAM by Madam C. J. Walker, a line of hair care products inspired by her great-great-grandmother, as well as the founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives.
Mattel first approached Bundles in October 2021 about designing a doll honoring her great-great-grandmother. Throughout the design and ideation process, Bundles said she was invited to share images of Walker and her beauty product containers, offering feedback on designs. She said Mattel even sent her a box of doll head prototypes with different facial features and hair textures for Bundles to rank.
“We were able to really combine the knowledge that I’ve developed as Madam Walker’s biographer, with their incredible knowledge of marketing and telling a story through a doll,” Bundles told ABC News.
The finalized version of the Walker doll is dressed in a purple floral printed blouse paired with a full-length turquoise skirt — Bundles said the color scheme was based on Walker’s stationery — and is holding a miniature replica of Walker’s original Wonderful Hair Grower product, an ointment that helped with many scalp issues. The doll’s packaging features a historical photo of Walker’s Villa Lewaro mansion in Irvington, New York, which served as a gathering place for notable figures during the Harlem Renaissance, such as W. E. B. Dubois and Langston Hughes.
Bundles described seeing the completed Barbie doll of her great-great-grandmother as a “full circle moment.”
“When I was 3 years old, my mother bought me a Black doll, and this was in the 1950s, so this was really unusual,” she said. “It was very hard to find Black dolls, but my mother understood the importance of me being able to see myself in a doll.”
Barbie first launched the Inspiring Women Series in 2018, dedicating the collection to honoring historical and present-day role models and trailblazers who paved the way for generations of girls.
The series has paid tribute to a diverse lineup of women including Dr. Jane Goodall, Ida B. Wells, Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart and more.
Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s executive vice president and global head of Barbie & Dolls, called Walker a “blueprint for the self-made American businesswoman and innovators of the twentieth century.”
“We’re honored to welcome her into this group of trailblazing women and introduce more kids to her journey of becoming one of the nation’s first widely successful female founders,” she said in a statement.
The Madam C.J. Walker doll sold out on Amazon and Mattel within a few days of its Aug. 24 release, garnering positive feedback from adults and children alike, according to Bundles.
Bundles said she hoped the doll would not only inspire children to break barriers like Walker did but also to teach them about “real life people who had very interesting, substantial, significant lives” rarely captured in school curricula.
“For me, it’s important that young people see themselves reflected, but it’s also important that our history be represented, the full breadth of our history as Americans,” she said.
(NEW YORK) — U.S. labor unions enjoy their highest level of approval in almost 60 years, as high-profile worker victories at Amazon and Starbucks have galvanized public support. However, union membership — the lifeblood of the labor movement — has fallen to a historic low.
The decline of labor power stems in part from federal labor law, since employers retain wide latitude to obstruct union campaigns, labor experts told ABC News. Businesses, in turn, often push down wages and weaken labor conditions in pursuit of a competitive advantage, exploiting the lack of worker representation at their firms, the experts said.
But a first-of-its-kind state bill that cleared the California legislature on Monday could circumvent those challenges and transform the future of worker bargaining, the analysts said.
If signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, the law would allow hundreds of thousands of fast food workers to bargain collectively over the terms of their work at large companies across the sector, rather than be forced to form a union at a single workplace and negotiate with one employer at a time. Using a newly created state-level council, California could raise pay and improve working conditions for the industry.
“It’s really significant because it’s giving fast food workers a seat at the table on a sector-wide basis,” Sharon Block, the executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard University Law School, told ABC News.
“Once this is up and running, fast food companies can’t compete against each other based on who can drive down labor costs as much as possible to make themselves more profitable,” she added.
The bill made it through the California Senate by a margin of 21 to 12 on Monday, after the state assembly passed a version of the measure in January. It remains unclear whether Newsom will sign it into law.
The measure would create a 10-person council made up of industry and worker representatives, as well as two state officials, that could set standards across the sector on issues of health and safety, and impose an industry-wide minimum wage.
Angelica Hernandez, a crew manager at a Los Angeles-based McDonald’s, said she welcomes the potential to influence conditions at the company.
“They make us do the work of two to three people, and yet our salary is barely just enough for one person,” she told ABC News.
When Angelica began working at McDonald’s 17 years ago, she made around $7.50 or $8.50 per hour, she said. Now, she makes $17.75 per hour but still struggles to pay for what she needs, she said.
“Now, we’ll have a say to better represent what workers need across the industry,” she said.
McDonald’s did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The bill does have limitations. It puts a ceiling on a potential minimum wage for fast food workers at $22 next year. At that time, the statewide minimum wage will reach $15.50. Cost-of-living adjustments in the industry-wide minimum wage are required by the bill but would not go into effect until 2024.
Moreover, decisions made by the sector-wide council would only apply to large companies with 100 or more locations nationwide.
The bill marks a dramatic advance for the labor movement in its effort to organize workers, like those in fast food, who’ve struggled to improve conditions in their industries, said Mary Kay Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, one of the nation’s largest unions and a major backer of the bill.
“We think this model is a gigantic step forward for workers who’ve been excluded since the beginning of time in our country,” Henry told ABC News.
SEIU supports efforts to spread the model to other states, including worker-friendly state houses in New York and Illinois, she said. Ultimately, she added, the union aims to enshrine the model into federal law.
“Over labor history, law has always followed the militant action of workers who are fearless and determined in making new models happen,” she said.
Some industry representatives have opposed the bill. Michelle Korsmo, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association, a trade group, warned that it will lead to increased costs for the fast food sector, which will place a significant burden on small businesses.
“It’s rare that a state legislature passes a bill that would hurt small businesses, their employees, and their customers,” Korsmo said in a statement, adding that this bill “does just that.”
“This comes at a time when inflation is at record highs and families are struggling every month,” she said.
Some precedent exists for the bill — both domestically and abroad. Workers routinely negotiate on a sector-wide basis in some European countries, including, for instance, fast food workers in Denmark.
A similar model raised wages for fast food workers in New York, where a statewide labor board in 2015 set the minimum wage for the industry at $15 per hour. It marked one of the first major victories for the Fight for $15, a labor movement that aimed to raise wages and unionize the fast food sector.
New York’s wage board — a statute that allows a governor to call a commission to investigate and raise pay for a given sector — went into effect during the New Deal era.
“Folks discovered this thing still existed, dusted it off, and tried it,” Shaun Richman, a labor scholar at State University of New York’s Empire College, told ABC News. “It made SEIU true believers of this process.”
Now, California is on the verge of implementing a law that would allow fast food workers to negotiate for pay and better conditions on an ongoing basis.
“It’s replicable,” Richman said. “There’s a tremendous amount of potential to increase union power.”
D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Co., Inc./U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a voluntary recall of fudge-coated animal cookies that were sold at Target stores across the U.S.
Stauffer’s voluntarily recalled its 44-ounce Market Pantry White Fudge Animal Cookies “because they may contain metal,” according to the FDA.
The affected products distributed to Target come in a bear-shaped clear plastic jug and have a best-by date of Feb. 21, 2023, with lot number Y052722 and UPC code 085239817698.
“The recall was initiated when metal (wire) was found inside a portion of the cookies,” the FDA wrote in the recall notice. “Foodborne foreign objects that are hard, sharp, and large are more likely to cause serious injury or dental injury. Foodborne foreign objects that are flexible, not sharp, and smaller in length are more likely to cause minor injuries such as transient choking or small lacerations in the gastrointestinal system.”
Consumers in possession of the product are “urged to stop consuming” it and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.
The FDA hasn’t reported any injuries tied to the possible contamination.
(NEW YORK) — Movie lovers pained by the price of popcorn, slushies and tickets will have something to celebrate on “National Cinema Day.”
On Sept. 3, tickets at theaters across the country will only be $3 for every movie, showtime and format — a fraction of the national average price of $9.17.
The Cinema Foundation, a donor-supported nonprofit, announced a markdown and holiday to celebrate a summer of “record-breaking moviegoing.”
“The one-day event, held at more than 3,000 participating locations with more than 30,000 screens, will bring together audiences of all ages to enjoy a day at the movies,” The Cinema foundation said in a release.
The Cinema Foundation also said moviegoers will be able to see sneak peeks of upcoming films from A24, Amazon Studios, Disney, Focus Features, Lionsgate, Neon, Paramount, Sony Pictures Classics, Sony, United Artists Releasing, Universal and Warner Bros.
“After this summer’s record-breaking return to cinemas, we wanted to do something to celebrate moviegoing,” Cinema Foundation President Jackie Brenneman said in a statement. “We’re doing it by offering a ‘thank you’ to the moviegoers that made this summer happen, and by offering an extra enticement for those who haven’t made it back yet.”
Labor Day weekend is historically one of the slowest weekends in theaters, The Associated Press reported. If organizers of the deal find this trial to be successful, National Cinema Day could become an annual fixture.
