Thomas Perez, President Obama’s nominee for secretary of labor, told the Senate Judiciary Committee today his top priority, if confirmed, would be “jobs, jobs and jobs.” Perez also told the panel:

The mission of the Department of Labor is the mission of America…building ladders to the middle class.

More than 4,000 Georgia education workers who have been wrongfully denied unemployment insurance benefits since a 2011 ruling by the state’s labor commissioner will collect more than $8 million in back payments.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka reacted today to the news President Obama will nominate Thomas Perez as the new secretary of labor:

Working men and women will be well served by President Obama’s choice of Tom Perez to lead the Department of Labor.

Throughout his career, Perez has fought to level the playing field and create opportunities for working people, whether in the workplace, the marketplace or the voting booth. He has worked to eliminate discrimination in housing, provide access to education and health care, end hate crimes, crack down on employers who cheat workers out of wages and expand our democracy by protecting the fundamental right of every American to vote. In the 1990’s, he worked on the front lines of the effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform under the leadership of the great Senator Ted Kennedy—a job that will serve him well in today’s drive for commonsense immigration reform.

Monday marked the 100th anniversary of the creation of the U.S. Department of Labor, which began when President William Howard Taft signed the legislation authorizing the department on his last day in office. The Labor Department launched a new website marking the centennial that includes a thorough history of the department, a close look at the current Labor Department and its mission, the future of labor and the department, a timeline of key events, historical documents and much more.

In a tough economy, how does a kid from a rough-and-tumble neighborhood go about finding a good job that pays well or obtain the skills needed to become the worker employers want to hire?

One path is through the TCU/IAM Job Corps Program. In 1971, TCU/IAM partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor to provide advanced transportation training to young people looking for careers. Today, hundreds of students take part in the program each year and more than 8,400 young men and women have been placed in meaningful jobs in rail, mass transit and airline companies since its inception.

Check out the AFL-CIO's new website Innovators feature, Track Switch: TCU/IAM Job Corps Program Delivers Careers.

The union membership rate was 11.3% in 2012, down from 11.8% in 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which released updated figures today. This decrease in union membership highlights the painful fact that people are working harder but are making less and less. 

One area that saw a significant loss was in the public sector. There are nearly 400,000 fewer union members, from teachers in the classroom to police and firefighters that keep us safe. In manufacturing, the jobs that have returned so far are largely low-wage, nonunion jobs. 

Thanks to a new website from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, for the first time, workers with 401(k)-type retirement plans will be able to track what they are paying in fees to invest their savings.

The new site, Understanding Retirement Fees, also includes new tips and tools on making smart retirement investment decisions.

This is a cross-post from the National Labor College blog, NLC Invested. 

The Department of Labor has recently released new rules requiring 401(k) plan sponsors to disclose fees much more fully to participants. Hear more from Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis in the YouTube video, "Learn About New Employer 401(k) Fee Disclosure Rules."

On Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. EDT, Solis and Assistant Secretary Phyllis Borzi of the Employee Benefits Security Administration will explain how the new 401 (k) rules will work and share tips about how you can keep more of what you save.

Register here: http://tinyurl.com/9xlgf3p.

Read more from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The unemployment rate declined from 8.3 percent in July to 8.1 percent in August, with 96,000 jobs added last month, according to data out this morning from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The improvement in the unemployment rate was due to workers dropping out of the labor force, not to an increase in employed workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). 

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis sends us this. 

Today, I want to extend my warmest wishes to you, the working men and women of America. You remain the beating heart of the greatest middle class in the world. Thank you for your commitment, your talent, your hard work and your service to this country. On behalf of everyone at the Department of Labor, I'm honored to wish all of you a great Labor Day.