Author: Brian Lund
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About 1.9 million Americans have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer
Roughly 1.9 million people in the United States had been looking for work for at least 27 weeks when the government took its August measurement, a share of the unemployed that has held stubbornly high even as hiring itself picked back up. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly Employment Situation report,…
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More than 9.3 million federal student loan borrowers are in default on $234 billion
More than 9.3 million federal student loan borrowers were in default as of June 30, holding a combined $234 billion in loans, according to updated portfolio data Federal Student Aid posted on September 22. The figure covers only the federally managed share of the loan portfolio, which spans 42.3 million recipients and more than $1.7…
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South Carolina workers recovered tips and back wages after a federal investigation
Restaurant workers at 13 Tropical Grille locations in upstate South Carolina have recovered $618,666 in back wages and tips after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation. The department announced on August 24, 2026, that the restaurant group paid the money to 779 employees after investigators found managers sharing in employee tip pools, overtime shortfalls for…
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Labor Department says a Florida seafood restaurant failed to pay overtime and minimum wage
The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $732,976 in back wages for 31 workers at a Pompano Beach seafood buffet after finding the owner failed to pay minimum wage and overtime. The employer, Lucky King LLC, operates Miyako Japanese Buffet in Broward County. The department announced the recovery on September 3, 2026, saying most employees…
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Butterball will pay $230,000 after an employee lost her job during cancer treatment
Butterball, LLC will pay $230,000 and change how it handles medical leave requests to settle a federal lawsuit over a long-term employee who was fired while undergoing chemotherapy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on September 15, 2026. The EEOC said the worker at the company’s Mt. Olive, North Carolina, operation asked for intermittent…
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North American Stamping will pay $620,000 in a sex-discrimination settlement
Several subsidiaries of North American Stamping Group, an international maker of car parts, will pay $620,000 and accept two years of federal monitoring to settle a sex harassment and discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on September 22, 2026. The EEOC had alleged that the company shut more than a dozen women…
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Small employers can set a fixed monthly health-benefit budget under CMS’s rebranded CHOICE plan
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the U.S. Small Business Administration are promoting CHOICE Arrangements, the new name for Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements, or ICHRAs, as a way for small employers to set a predictable monthly budget for health benefits. Instead of absorbing rising premiums on a traditional group plan, an employer…
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Auto lender Credit Acceptance will forgive more than $630 million in consumer debt
Credit Acceptance Corporation, a Michigan-based subprime auto lender, will forgive more than $630 million in car-loan debt owed by more than 55,000 borrowers nationwide under a settlement announced September 17, 2026. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, New York Attorney General Letitia James and a bipartisan group of states said the deal also requires $60 million…
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A Chicago-area roofing contractor faces $265,868 in proposed penalties after a 25-foot fall risk
A fall hazard can become a business-cost story long before a citation becomes final. OSHA has proposed $265,868 in penalties against Martin Araujo, doing business as Araujo Construction Corp. of Calumet City, Illinois, after inspections at two job sites where workers installing roof rafters and sheathing faced falls of up to 25 feet. The agency’s…
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Real hourly pay bought less in August than it did a year earlier
An hour of work in August 2026 bought slightly less than an hour of work in August 2025. Nominal pay rose over those twelve months, and prices rose faster, so the federal government’s inflation-adjusted measure of hourly pay went backwards. The one thing that kept weekly paychecks ahead of prices was not a raise at…