Labor Department News Releases Update

Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses. Under the agreement both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement.

Recent decline in the coal mining industry – eastern Kentucky's largest employer - have led to job losses across the area and increased the region's unemployment rate to the highest in the commonwealth. To help those affected by the job loss, the U.S. Department of Labor today is announcing a $7,494,017 National Emergency Grant to offer training and employment services that will prepare affected workers for jobs with the area's high-growth and high-wage employers.

In the week ending May 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 262,000. The 4-week moving average was 279,500, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 283,750. This is the lowest level for this average since May 6, 2000 when it was 279,250.