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It’s hard to find a better example of a failed trade law than the Jones Act — which has now slashed US cargo-ship production to just a few vessels a year, while China’s building more than 4,000. President Donald Trump and Congress need to prioritize a repeal of this 100-year-old protectionist legislation ASAP. The law was supposed to boost the US merchant-marine industry by requiring that all shipping between US points use American-made, -owned, -crewed and -flagged vessels. But sky-high US manufacturing costs, which are passed on to shippers and ultimately consumers, made other alternatives — e.g., imports, land-based transportation — far more economical. The perverse result: Demand for US ships has plummeted, even as building costs soared. More From Post Editorial Board Shipyards have closed or become outdated; mariners are in short supply. The entire Jones Act fleet now amounts to just 92 ships. That means just 3.9% of domestic US freight is moved by sea, vs. 28% for the European Union. Get opinions and commentary from...

NASA and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) launched the NASA Force website on Friday, opening applications for roles aimed at recruiting the nation’s top engineers and technologists to support America’s air and space program.  NASA Force, a new hiring initiative developed in partnership with OPM, will recruit and place high-impact technical talent into mission-critical roles supporting NASA’s exploration, research, and advanced technology priorities, ensuring the agency has the cutting-edge expertise needed to maintain U.S. leadership in air and space.  “NASA Force is bringing highly skilled early- to mid-career engineers, technologists and innovators to help us achieve our world-changing missions,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Our successful Artemis II mission has inspired the world and generated tremendous interest to join our workforce to be part of the Golden Age of innovation and exploration.”  NASA Force is part of a broader US Tech Force  initiative established by OPM to recruit elite technical professionals into federal service at multiple agencies to modernize systems, accelerate innovation, and strengthen mission delivery.  “NASA has always shown the world what American talent can achieve when it’s pointed at a bold mission,” said OPM Director Scott Kupor. “NASA Force is about making sure the agency has access to the next generation...

June 5, 2026, 10:06 a.m. ETWhite House rejoices over strong jobs report.The White House celebrated a stronger-than-expected jobs report on Friday, insisting that the uptick in hiring shows that the U.S. economy remains strong even as the war with Iran continues to elevate oil and gas prices.The report, which showed that employers added 172,000 jobs in May, doubled as a political win for President Trump, who has struggled for months to tamp down voters’ mounting economic anxieties. It offers him a new talking point as he races to shore up support for his flagging agenda, months before voters head to the ballot box for the midterm elections.But the strong hiring, which greatly outpaced analyst expectations, came with an important caveat. The growth in the labor market — on top of uncomfortably high inflation recently — seemed to reduce the chances that the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates any time soon.Mr. Trump has repeatedly called for those steep cuts. Weeks...

Related This page captures the latest data around job openings, labor force participation, shortages by state and industry, the skills gap, and more, for a quick understanding of the state of the workforce. For more workforce content, programs, and solutions from the U.S. Chamber and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, visit the America Works Initiative. The Workforce Returns, Downward Participation Persists The labor force participation rate has trended downward for more than 20 years. In 2000, the labor force participation rate hovered around 66%. Since 2021, the labor force participation rate has stayed mainly between 62 – 63%. While the participation rate is climbing back upward, it took a hit during the pandemic as early retirements, childcare challenges, and less immigration left the nation with a severe worker deficit. Plus, boosted unemployment benefits, stimulus payments, and child tax credits offered during the pandemic padded finances and the period saw some previously employed...

This is part 2 of a two-part MIT News feature examining new job creation in the U.S. since 1940, based on new research from Ford Professor of Economics David Autor. Part 1 is available here. Ever since the Luddites were destroying machine looms, it has been obvious that new technologies can wipe out jobs. But technical innovations also create new jobs: Consider a computer programmer, or someone installing solar panels on a roof. Overall, does technology replace more jobs than it creates? What is the net balance between these two things? Until now, that has not been measured. But a new research project led by MIT economist David Autor has developed an answer, at least for U.S. history since 1940. The study uses new methods to examine how many jobs have been lost to machine automation, and how many have been generated through “augmentation,” in which technology creates new tasks. On net, the study finds, and particularly since 1980, technology has replaced more...

Transatlantic pact to speed up world-leading AI research to help develop new drugs, faster life-saving treatments and improved cancer care Alliance ushers in golden age of nuclear technology, delivering clean, homegrown energy and unlocking high-paying jobs for the British people North East set to become new AI Growth Zone – creating potential for more than 5,000 jobs and billions in private investment – as well as major deal struck between British firm Nscale and leading American firms NVIDIA and OpenAI to deliver a Stargate UK Comes as American tech firms back historic agreement pouring more than £31 billion into the UK AI and tech infrastructure, including Microsoft’s largest ever commitment to the UK As part of the US President’s State Visit, the UK and US have agreed the Tech Prosperity Deal, focused on developing the fastest growing technologies like AI, quantum, and nuclear. This comes as America’s top technology and AI...

The U.S. shed 92,000 jobs in February and previous months of job growth were not as strong as previously reported, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday in a report that will raise alarms about the state of the economy. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.4%, little changed from January’s report. Economists had expected the economy to add 50,000 jobs and the unemployment report to remain at 4.3%. Friday's report revised down January's previously stellar payrolls figure from 130,000 to 126,000. The agency also cut December’s figure from 50,000 jobs added to a contraction of 17,000. With those revisions, 2025 was the first year to record five months of labor market contractions since 2010, as the economy was recovering from the global financial crisis. "Well, that was ugly," wrote Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at the financial publishign company Bankrate, wrote in a note after Friday's data release. Hamrick noted that in addition to the job contraction and...

Indeed data shows that foreign job seeker interest in US jobs has dropped to its lowest levels since early 2020, with broad implications for large swaths of the labor market. Key Points: Foreign job seeker interest in US jobs has fallen sharply since 2024 and is currently at a 6-year low. Employers’ stated willingness to hire workers requiring visa sponsorship has tripled since the pandemic. International talent is an important component of the US labor market, representing a significant proportion of workers in industries including cleaning, farming, construction, tech, healthcare, production, transportation, and service. Broad changes to immigration policy since early 2025 are reshaping who contributes to the United States labor force. The United States labor market has long depended on a steady flow of immigrant workers. In recent years, as the native-born population aged and labor force growth stalled, immigration has filled critical gaps across sectors. But a new Hiring Lab analysis shows that pipeline has been disrupted, with foreign interest in US jobs...

Small pockets of growth are emerging as employers concentrate their limited hiring on roles and skills tied to AI. Key points: Hiring activity remains subdued, and job postings are flat or declining in many occupations. However, jobs with AI mentions are bucking the overall trend and are growing across many knowledge work occupations. The Indeed AI Tracker reached a high of 4.2% in December 2025. Nearly 45% of data & analytics postings now contain AI-related terms, compared with about 15% in marketing and 9% in human resources.  Our monthly Labor Market Update examines significant trends using Indeed and other labor market data. Our US Labor Market Overview chartbook provides a more comprehensive view of the US labor market. Data from our Job Postings Index — which stood 6% above its Feb 1, 2020 baseline as of December 31, 2025  — and the Indeed Wage Tracker (including sector-level data) are regularly updated and can be accessed on our data portal.  The total number of US job postings...

Job openings in the United States have dropped to their lowest level in six years, as the demand for labour stalls amid concerns about trade, immigration and the surging role of artificial intelligence (AI).Tuesday’s Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS), a monthly report released by the US Labour Department, showed that job openings tumbled by 358,000 to 6.882 million in February.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThat was down from a projected 6.918 million job openings for the month, a steeper decline than experts had expected. In January, the JOLTS report had recorded 7.240 million job openings.Hiring efforts also slumped in February, with 498,000 fewer people hired, for a total of 4.8 million people. That marks the lowest hiring level since March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Fewer people are also leaving their jobs for new ones, reflecting stagnation in the job market. Three million people quit last month, for a rate of 1.9 percent.Alongside the stagnating job market,...