Milwaukee Hosts Investing in America Roundtable with DOL Acting Secretary Su
Washington Update
Investing in America Workforce Hubs
On Wednesday, August 14, as part of President Biden’s Investing in America initiative, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Acting Secretary Julie Su visited Milwaukee — one of the four new Workforce Hubs announced by the White House earlier this year. The initiative aims to ensure that all Americans can access good jobs under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Hosted by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Acting Secretary Su participated in a roundtable discussion with WI Department of Workforce Development Secretary Amy Pechacek, building trades leadership, contractor associations, and workforce training leaders. The conversation focused on steps that participants can take to help more Milwaukee residents access and succeed in training that gets them into building trades careers and other careers impacted by infrastructure investments.
Click here to access Acting Secretary Su’s social media post on the event.
Click here to learn more about President Biden’s Investing in America Initiative.
Early Childhood Education Workforce
On Friday, August 16, the Biden Administration published new rules that will boost pay for Head Start educators in an effort to increase enrollment in the early childhood field. Early childhood educators are in short supply amid an ongoing worker shortage. The new rules will require large operators to put their employees on a path to earn what their counterparts in local school districts make by 2031.
Head Start, a federally-funded early-learning program for low-income families, saw an huge increase in staff turnover during the pandemic and the rule aims to reduce staff turnover. It comes after President Biden directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to close the gap between elementary school teachers and Head Start educators, who earned roughly $39,096 in 2022. Most instructors in the program could see a $10,000 wage increase as part of the rule. The Head Start program has generally seen bipartisan support — with Congress increasing its funding to provide employees with a cost-of-living increase.
Click here to access the HHS press release.
Appropriations
In the coming weeks, the White House is expected to send lawmakers a list of special funding exceptions as Congress moves closer toward the passage of a stopgap spending bill. The Administration is expected to outline which programs it believes need a funding increase while the rest of the government remains on a stagnant budget beyond the October 1 start of FY25. Some areas that might receive special funding attention are social security, disaster aid, and veterans. It is possible that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) could become more involved in the appropriations process once he’s free from leadership — perhaps even taking the top ranking member or chair slot for the Appropriations Committee next year. GOP appropriators believe it’s more likely current Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (ME) will remain in her current position, however, with McConnell taking a prime subcommittee gavel.
Initial Jobless Claims
In the week ending August 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 227,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 233,000 to 234,000. The 4-week moving average was 236,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 240,750 to 241,000. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending August 3, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
Click here to access the report.
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