Category: Paychecks & Work
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New York’s paid family leave maximum rises to $1,287.91 a week in 2027
A New York worker who takes up to 12 weeks of Paid Family Leave in 2027 could collect as much as $1,287.91 a week, the state’s new maximum. That is $59.38 more than the 2026 ceiling of $1,228.53. The higher figure applies to leave beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2027, and it is a…
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Maryland workers start paying 0.45% of wages for paid leave in January, and New York’s yearly deduction cap rises to $451.81
Paycheck stubs in Maryland will carry a new line in January 2027: a deduction of 0.45% of wages for the state’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program. In New York, the most a worker can pay toward Paid Family Leave in a year rises to $451.81 in 2027 from $411.91. The two programs are at…
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Payrolls rose significantly in just four states in August, led by California, BLS says
California added 39,400 payroll jobs in August, the largest gain among the only four states where the Bureau of Labor Statistics found payrolls rose significantly. Wisconsin, South Carolina and New Mexico were the other three. In the remaining 46 states and the District of Columbia, BLS called the monthly change “essentially unchanged,” which is not…
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Washington, D.C., now has the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 5.7%
Washington, D.C., posted the highest unemployment rate in the country in August, 5.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national rate held at 4.1%, and South Dakota’s 2.0% was the lowest. The District’s own labor department reports that the rate is lower than a month and a year earlier, which makes the ranking…
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Only 49% of private-sector workers can get paid family leave, compared with 81% for paid sick days, BLS says
Paid family and medical leave is available to 49% of private-sector workers, while 81% can take paid sick days, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figures come from the agency’s March 2026 benefits survey, released Sept. 25, 2026. For a household weighing a new baby, a surgery or a parent’s decline, the difference…
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Fewer than half of private-sector workers, 46%, are enrolled in a workplace health plan, though 71% have access, BLS says
Most private-sector workers can sign up for a health plan through work. Fewer than half of them do. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 71% of private-industry workers had access to a workplace medical plan in March 2026, but only 46% actually took part in one, a gap of 25 percentage points between what…
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Women working full time earned 83.9 cents for every dollar men earned in 2025, up from 80.6 cents, Census says
For every dollar a man working full time, year-round earned in 2025, a woman working the same schedule earned 83.9 cents, the Census Bureau reported, up from 80.6 cents the year before. The jump, more than three full cents in a single year, is one of the larger annual moves in a ratio that has…
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The typical household’s income after taxes rose 3.1% to $76,060 in 2025, Census says
A household exactly in the middle of the U.S. income scale kept about $76,060 after taxes in 2025, the Census Bureau reported, up 3.1% from $73,760 the year before. The figure, released as part of the bureau’s annual income, poverty and health insurance report, measures what is left once Social Security and Medicare taxes and…
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Whole Foods workers get free Prime and health plans starting at $5 a week
Starting Sept. 28, Whole Foods Market is raising its average store wage past $21 an hour and layering on two benefits with price tags of their own: a free Amazon Prime membership worth $139 a year for every hourly team member, and a company health plan priced from $5 a week for eligible full-time workers…
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Spirit Halloween is hiring 52,000 seasonal workers across 1,575 stores
Spirit Halloween plans to hire 52,000 seasonal associates to staff 1,575 stores this year, according to the holiday hiring outlook Challenger, Gray & Christmas published Sept. 23. The costume chain leases empty storefronts each fall and closes most of them within days of Halloween, making it one of the largest single seasonal employers named in…