Category: Jobs & Wages
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Federal law enforcement officers would be the only civilian group with a January raise under the pay plan Trump sent Congress
Federal law enforcement personnel are the only civilian workers the White House wants to give a raise in January 2027. The pay plan President Trump sent Congress on August 26 freezes everyone else’s base and locality pay, then directs a 3.8 percent increase for law enforcement. The plan does not yet say which jobs fall…
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Most federal civilian employees would get no raise in January under the alternative pay plan Trump sent Congress, which exempts law enforcement
Most civilian federal employees would see no change in base pay or locality pay when January 2027 arrives. President Trump’s alternative pay plan, a letter to Congress dated August 26, sets the 2027 adjustment for those workers at zero. Federal law enforcement personnel are the one group the plan treats differently. For a federal worker,…
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Initial jobless claims fell to 194,000 in the week ending October 17
Fewer Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. The Labor Department reported on October 22, 2026 that seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims fell to 194,000 in the week ending October 17, down 6,000 from the week before. Low claims point to a labor market where layoffs are still rare, but they do not describe…
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UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 seasonal workers for the holiday peak
UPS is looking for more than 100,000 seasonal workers to staff its holiday rush. The company announced the hiring push on October 7, 2026, and said the jobs are open in hundreds of locations across the country. For a retiree weighing a few months of paid work, the trade-off is simple: extra pay now, and…
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PacificSource will lay off 134 Oregon workers on December 31
PacificSource, the Oregon health insurer, will lay off 134 workers on December 31, 2026. The company filed a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, known as a WARN notice, with the state and four cities on October 20, and OPB reported it on October 22. The jobs are in Springfield, Bend, Salem and Portland. The…
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SSI recipients who let Social Security pull their pay data from Equifax each month are protected from the penalty of ineligibility for SSI cash benefits on that data but still must report a new job
Social Security gets monthly pay data from Equifax for some people on Supplemental Security Income, and the arrangement carries a protection. The agency’s 2026 SSI spotlight on the Payroll Information Exchange says people who receive SSI and give authorization are protected from the penalty of ineligibility for SSI cash benefits on the wage and employment…
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Social Security reviews working beneficiaries’ earnings every year, and a latest year among their highest raises the check retroactive to the following January
Social Security quietly checks the paychecks of people who collect benefits and work. The agency says it reviews the records of all beneficiaries who had wages reported for the previous year, and that a raise can follow. A beneficiary whose latest year of earnings is one of their highest gets a bigger monthly check, with…
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Trump’s pay plan gives civilian federal workers no raise in January 2027 unless Congress acts, while law enforcement personnel would get 3.8%
Civilian federal employees are headed for a pay freeze in January 2027, and it takes hold automatically if Congress does not set a different figure. In an Aug. 26, 2026 letter to Congress, President Donald Trump wrote that “base pay and locality pay for civilian Federal employees will not change from the 2026 rates.” The…
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Washington now pays new unemployment claims up to $1,208 a week, up from $1,152
Washington State has raised the ceiling on weekly unemployment checks to $1,208, up $56 from $1,152, for new claims opened on or after July 5, 2026. The state Employment Security Department says the new rates run through June 2027. The floor also rose, to $383 a week from $366. The date a claim is opened…
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New Jersey’s top weekly unemployment check rises to $937 in 2027 from $905
A laid-off New Jersey worker with high enough past earnings will be able to collect up to $937 a week in unemployment insurance in 2027, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The 2026 maximum is $905, so the ceiling rises $32 a week, or about 3.5 percent. The new number is…