Category: Paychecks & Work
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Indiana disaster victims in 24 counties have until Oct. 25 to apply for FEMA aid and those in 21 of those counties have until Oct. 27 for disaster unemployment benefits
Hoosiers whose homes or jobs were hit by the severe storms of mid-August have two deadlines coming up. The Indiana Department of Homeland Security says people in 24 counties have until Oct. 25, 2026, to apply for FEMA Individual Assistance. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development says people in 21 of those counties have until…
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The Labor Department’s inspector general flagged $45.6 billion in potentially fraudulent jobless benefits in four high-risk areas
The Labor Department’s inspector general flagged $45.6 billion in unemployment benefits as potentially fraudulent, and a new federal rule built on that number will open state jobless-claim files to federal investigators. The figure comes from a September 21, 2022 alert memo signed by Carolyn R. Hantz, the inspector general’s Assistant Inspector General for Audit. It…
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Former Bank of America workers in three states who left without a payout for unused vacation are covered by a preliminarily approved settlement that pays without a claim
Former Bank of America employees who worked in California, New York or Illinois and left the bank with vacation time they were never paid for are covered by a class action settlement that pays without anyone filing a claim. The settlement’s official website says the case is Nguyen v. Bank of America, No. 5:23-cv-04999-PCP, and…
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State unemployment agencies must open jobless-claims records to federal fraud auditors under a Labor Department rule that takes effect Nov. 16
Starting November 16, state unemployment offices will have to hand over confidential jobless-claims records to federal officials who audit the program, instead of doing so only when they choose to. The Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration issued the final rule in September. It says the change is meant to hold states accountable for finding…
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Workers on older federal contracts get a $14.05 minimum wage on Jan. 6, 2027, after Trump revoked the higher $17.75 floor that covered newer contracts
The federal minimum wage for workers on older government contracts goes up to $14.05 an hour on January 6, 2027. The Labor Department announced the new rate on October 8, and it is $0.40 more than the $13.65 now in effect. The higher $17.75 floor that once covered newer federal contracts is gone, because President…
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A Trump administration proposal would make schools pay $70,000 for each foreign student’s first round of OPT work training and $30,000 for each later round
The Department of Homeland Security has proposed charging schools $70,000 for each foreign student’s first round of Optional Practical Training, the work program known as OPT, and $30,000 for each later round. The proposal is in a rule published in the Federal Register on Oct. 8. It is only a proposal, and DHS is taking…
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USDA says farm safety-net payments for the 2025 crop total about $13.8 billion before cuts, the most since the programs began in 2014, and 2026 sign-ups close Dec. 11
Farm country is in line for its biggest safety-net payout since the programs began. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on October 7 that Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payments for the 2025 crop year total about $13.8 billion, and that is before payment limits and a 5.7 percent across-the-board cut are applied.…
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Five of the six metros with 8 percent-plus unemployment are in California
Of the 387 metropolitan areas the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks, six had unemployment rates of 8.0 percent or higher in August, and five of them are in California. They are El Centro, Visalia, Merced, Hanford-Corcoran and Bakersfield-Delano. The sixth, Yuma, is in Arizona. The rates come from BLS’s metro unemployment table, which covers August…
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Financial activities employment, which includes finance, insurance and real estate, is down 129,000 since May 2025, BLS says
Employment in financial activities, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ category for banks, insurers, brokerages and real estate, is down 129,000 jobs from its May 2025 peak. BLS said so in its September jobs report, released Oct. 2, and added that “most of the job loss” came in insurance carriers and related activities, which are down…
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Jobs grew over the past year in only 9 of 387 metro areas
In 373 of the nation’s 387 metropolitan areas, the number of jobs on payrolls in August was essentially the same as a year earlier. Only nine metros posted a gain, and five posted a loss, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ metropolitan area release of Sept. 30. What stands out in the data is…