Labor/Economics

[ap215]

U.S. payrolls rose by 178,000 in March, more than expected; unemployment at 4.3%

The U.S. labor market bounced back in March, with job creation much stronger than expected though the broader picture of a slow-growth labor market held intact.

Nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 178,000 during the month, a reversal from the 133,000 decline in February and better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 59,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. February’s number was revised down by 41,000 while January was revised up by 34,000 to 160,000, putting the three-month average around 68,000.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/03/jobs-re ... 2026-.html

[ap215]

Teamsters Reach Strong Settlement with UPS on Driver Severance Packages

(WASHINGTON) – After months of urging United Parcel Service (UPS) to honor its Teamsters contract and return to the bargaining table over unilateral driver buyouts, UPS on Sunday agreed to terms on a new settlement with the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee — capping severance offers while rewarding and protecting the seniority of Teamsters drivers.

Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien successfully pushed UPS into negotiations in the wake of national grievances filed against the package giant over its Driver Choice Program (DCP), which UPS pursued in February without agreement from the union. Those grievances forced UPS to withdraw the DCP in 13 states in March before ultimately agreeing to negotiate.

https://teamster.org/2026/04/teamsters- ... -packages/

[ap215]

Core inflation was 3% in February, as expected, key Fed gauge shows

Core inflation eased slightly in February before the recent surge in energy prices, according to a key gauge released Thursday that offers the Federal Reserve a snapshot of conditions leading into the Iran war.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which excludes food and energy, rose a seasonally adjusted 3% in February, the Commerce Department reported. The all-items headline inflation measure increased 2.8%.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/09/core-in ... shows.html

[ap215]

Consumer prices rose 3.3% in March, as energy prices spiked due to Iran conflict

Consumer prices spiked in March as the Iran war sent energy costs soaring and took the Federal Reserve further from its inflation target, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Underlying inflation, however, was relatively tame.

The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.9% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3.3%, pushed by a 10.9% surge in energy costs. Both numbers were in line with the Dow Jones consensus. The annual rate was the highest since April 2024 and up from 2.4% in February.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/10/cpi-inf ... -2026.html

[ap215]

JBS and union ratify new agreement following 3-week strike

GREELEY, Colo. — One of the nation’s largest beef processing plants and the union representing workers there have ratified a tentative agreement following a three-week strike.

About 3,800 employees at the JBS plant walked off the job March 16, calling for higher wages and safer working conditions. The workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7, returned to work Tuesday even though a new agreement was not yet in place.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/loca ... aefd3df3a4

[ap215]

Strike averted: LAUSD schools will open Tuesday after SEIU Local 99 deal

Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will be open Tuesday after a strike involving essential workers was averted, officials on both sides confirmed.

Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents about 30,000 essential LAUSD workers, announced a tentative deal with the district early Tuesday morning.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/lausd- ... e-averted/

[ap215]

Wholesale prices rose 0.5% in March, much less than expected despite war impact

Producer prices rose in March but considerably less than expected as the Iran war’s push on energy prices rekindled fears of another inflation burst.

The producer price index, a gauge of pipeline costs for final demand goods and services, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month, well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 1.1%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Tuesday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/14/wholesa ... mpact.html

[ap215]

Postal Service union launches ad campaign promoting mail voting as Trump assails the method

A major U.S. Postal Service union is launching a national TV ad campaign promoting voting by mail, stepping into a politically charged debate as skepticism about mail-in ballots has been raised by President Donald Trump and others.

The 30-second message features a variety of voters, among them a busy farmer and a flight attendant, explaining why they cast their ballots by mail. Sponsored by the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union, the advertising campaign announced Tuesday will begin airing this week in Ohio, where Union Army soldiers during the Civil War cast the first mail ballots in 1864. It will then move to other states.

https://www.wral.com/news/ap/d0883-post ... he-method/

[ZoWie]

Surprised you aren't mentioning the SEIU strike vote. It's all we're talking about when on the phone or text back to Manhattan. A strike vote doesn't preclude a last-minute settlement, but time is growing very short indeed.

[ap215]

New York City building workers' union reaches tentative agreement to avert strike

The union representing thousands of New York City residential building workers reached a tentative agreement with the Realty Advisory Board on Friday that would avert a strike.

More than 34,000 doormen and women, supers, porters and other workers with 32BJ were set to walk off the job as soon as next Tuesday, which would have impacted more than a million New Yorkers across thousands of buildings.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/n ... ocialshare

[ZoWie]

Yes, they almost always settle right after the strike vote, but this one seemed less automatic. They had a rally that attracted national political figures including Bernie Sanders, and it was shown on C-SPAN. It caused quite a stir.

[ap215]

Teachers union and Sheridan School District reach tentative agreement to end strike

A tentative agreement has been reached to end the longest teachers strike in Colorado in 40 years. It paves the way for teachers in Sheridan School District No. 2 to return to class as early as Monday.

Gov. Jared Polis put pressure on negotiators to get a deal done as the strike was impacting many kids and families across the community in the southern part of the Denver metro area.

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/s ... -colorado/

[ap215]

Fed’s key inflation gauge hits 3.5% as Iran war pushes up gas prices

Fast-rising gas prices lifted the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge to 3.5% in March, its highest rate in almost three years, new data showed Thursday.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 0.7% from February, a faster-than-expected acceleration from the previous monthly pace of 0.4%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The annual rate of inflation, which jumped from 2.8% in February, is now running at its fastest pace since May 2023.

https://archive.is/20260430124429/https ... 3-3869.323

[ap215]

ISU and AFSCME reach tentative deal on new contract to end strike

Illinois State University and the AFSCME union that represents buildings, dining and food service workers announced late Monday that they've reached a tentative deal, likely ending the longest single-unit strike in ISU history.

ISU and AFSCME sent brief statements late Monday announcing the "tentative agreement" on a new contract. No details have been provided yet to the media or the public. Union members will next vote whether to ratify it.

https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-05 ... end-strike

[ap215]

Private payrolls rose by 109,000 in April, topping expectations, ADP says

Private sector job creation was stronger than expected in April, providing more evidence of a stable labor market and less incentive for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates amid persistently higher inflation, ADP reported Wednesday.

The payrolls processing firm said companies added 109,000 jobs for the month, a step up from the 61,000 created in March and better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 84,000. April’s gains were the best for the ADP count since January 2025. The March total was revised down by 1,000.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/06/private ... -says.html

[ap215]

Consumer sentiment falls to fresh record low in May as surging gas prices hit outlook

Surging gas prices due to the Iran war sent consumer sentiment to a new low in the early part of May, according to a University of Michigan survey Friday.

The school’s closely watched Survey of Consumers posted a 48.2 preliminary reading, down 3.2% from April’s prior record swoon and off 7.7% from a year ago. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 49.7.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/08/consume ... tlook.html

[ZoWie]

You ain't seen nothing yet. Nooz is predicting another gas shortage like the one that upended American politics after the first wave of revolutions in the Middle East. This time the Republicans will take the blame.

It's already started in SoCal. Yes, I know, I don't need to drive a fancy sports car that only runs on premium, but even so my last fill-up was eighty (80) eighty bucks. Even if I was driving a Prius, that's still a 100% price increase no matter how you slice it. Yes, the price of gas has doubled in California, most populous state in the country.

MSNOW is tracking the price of regular. It's doubled everywhere. CNN is running big scary headlines about how gas stations will start running out of stock in California any day now. As one might remember from the last time we got stupid in the Middle East, what happens in California eventually happens nationwide.

Joe Blow who drives his SUV to work every day has gotta be hurting bad.

This is the kind of shit that causes political changes in the otherwise blindly apathetic USA.

[ap215]

NFL, NFLRA Reach Seven-Year Collective Bargaining Agreement

NEW YORK — May 8, 2026 — The NFL and the NFL Referees Association have reached a seven-year collective bargaining agreement that will run through the 2032 NFL season. The current deal was scheduled to expire on May 31. The agreement was approved by the NFLRA Board of Directors and ratified by a vote of the NFLRA membership.

https://media.nfl.com/content/dam/commu ... rement.pdf

[Number6]

You ain't seen nothing yet. Nooz is predicting another gas shortage like the one that upended American politics after the first wave of revolutions in the Middle East. This time the Republicans will take the blame.

It's already started in SoCal. Yes, I know, I don't need to drive a fancy sports car that only runs on premium, but even so my last fill-up was eighty (80) eighty bucks. Even if I was driving a Prius, that's still a 100% price increase no matter how you slice it. Yes, the price of gas has doubled in California, most populous state in the country.

MSNOW is tracking the price of regular. It's doubled everywhere. CNN is running big scary headlines about how gas stations will start running out of stock in California any day now. As one might remember from the last time we got stupid in the Middle East, what happens in California eventually happens nationwide.

Joe Blow who drives his SUV to work every day has gotta be hurting bad.

This is the kind of shit that causes political changes in the otherwise blindly apathetic USA.

I bought a 2026 Honda CR-V Sport Touring Hybrid at the end of February because my 2007 CR-V was getting to expensive to repair. I filled up at the Navy Base yesterday and their price was $5.80 a gallon, the same as Costco. My car took 9.83 gallons for a total price of 57.01. One thing I've done for years is to log the price of gas each time I filled up. On January 1st, gas cost $3.98 so it's increased by 45% thanks to Trump.

[ZoWie]

I can't get on naval bases but the local Costco is becoming more attractive by the day.

It usually had about a half hour wait in line for gas in happier times, so now I can only imagine the chaos.

It behooves Americans to get their heads out of their butts and start actually thinking about who they vote for.

[Number6]

I can't get on naval bases but the local Costco is becoming more attractive by the day.

It usually had about a half hour wait in line for gas in happier times, so now I can only imagine the chaos.

It behooves Americans to get their heads out of their butts and start actually thinking about who they vote for.

At the beginning of April, I drove, with a friend, up to Reno for a bowling tournament (we didn't do well). Since I didn't know how many miles my new car would actually get I filled up at Costco in Victorville. Since it was over 400 miles between Victorville and Reno I stopped at Fort Independence off Highway 395. The price of gas was $4.70; 34 cents less than Costco in Victorville. The gas station in Fort Independence is on tribal land and so they don't have to charge federal tax on gas.

Costco buys gas in bulk so they can keep the price lower and they keep the price lower as a loss leader to get customers into their stores. If you fill your car(s) up often, it would be worth paying the $65 Costco membership to buy just gas.

There might be a line but the Costco's I've filled up at have a quite a few lanes with three pumps per lane. As you're waiting in line, above the line is an indicator of which pumps in your lane are in use or open. If they're open, there is plenty of room between the lanes for cars to pass through so you could use it to pull into the open pump without problem. Overall, the wait isn't that long.

[ZoWie]

That does sound like our local Costco. They bought the supermarket next door and demolished it to make more parking. The parking lot is enormous, and they still fill it up. The gas line does go out into the street, causing a perpetual traffic mess, but yes, they have three or four lanes.

I suspect the gas is indeed a loss leader, like the cheap yummy hot dogs.

[ap215]

Consumer prices rose 3.8% annually in April, the highest since May 2023

Prices that consumers pay for a wide range of goods and services increased at a faster-than-expected pace in April, raising further concerns about the inflationary impact on the U.S. economy.

The consumer price index rose at a seasonally adjusted 0.6% for the month, putting the one-year pace at 3.8%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The monthly rate was as forecast, but the annual rate was 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/12/cpi-inf ... 2026-.html

[ap215]

United Flight Attendants Ratify New Contract

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 12, 2026) — United Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, today voted by 82% to ratify a new contract. The agreement provides a 31% average wage increase for the nearly 30,000 Flight Attendants plus boarding pay (additional 7-8% compensation on average) this summer, and $741 million in retroactive pay among many other improvements.

“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic, said Ken Diaz, AFA United President. “Our solidarity delivered the goods.”

https://afacwa.org/united-flight-attend ... -contract/

[ap215]

Wholesale inflation jumps 6% in April on annual basis, biggest increase since 2022

Wholesale prices in April rose the most in three years, signaling more nettlesome inflation as pipeline costs intensify.

The producer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4% for the month, much higher than the 0.5% Dow Jones consensus forecast and the upwardly revised 0.7% March increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. This was the largest monthly gain since March 2022.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/13/ppi-inf ... 2026-.html