My father, I believe, felt that Labor Day should rightly be celebrated by working twice as hard on that day as on most days. He liked to work. No, he loved to work. He celebrated in his lumberjack ability to work smart while working incredibly hard, and Labor Day was right up his alley.
But for most us, Labor Day is the last chance to go school shopping, take a camping trip, or get out of “Dodge” for a long weekend. Most of us don’t celebrate by working twice as hard on Labor Day.
Where did Labor Day get its start? Although it’s not for certain, the best guess is that it began on Sept. 5 in 1882, when about 10,000 workers gathered in New York City and had a parade. Similar events sprung up around the country and by 1894 half of the states had a Labor Day celebration. The event became a national holiday when Congress designated the first Monday in September Labor Day later in 1894 when President Grover Alexander Cleveland signed it into law.
The U.S. Department of Labor has some interesting statistics about our economy. In 2015 the real median earnings for males was $51,212 while women made $40,742. The real median household income was $56,516 in 2015, up 5.2 percent from 2014. This was the first annual median increase in household income since 2007.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Income and Poverty in the U.S. for 2015, Asian households had the highest median income at $77,166 while black households had the lowest median income at $36,898. White households came in at $62,950 and Hispanic household median income was $45,148.
Most of us drive to work alone, with 76.6 percent of the country commuting on average 26.4 minutes to get to work.
Only nine percent of us carpool while .6 percent ride bikes to work.
Ninety percent of full-time, year-round workers ages 19 to 64 were covered by health insurance in 2015.
The largest percentage of growth from 2014 to 2024 is in the wind turbine industry at 108 percent. If you are mechanically inclined, and thinking of making a change in career–or are about to select a career– there is and will be a great need for wind service technicians.
But the fastest growing occupation will be to fill personal care aides. Some 458,000 personal care aides will be necessary to fill all of the job openings. I’m guessing wind turbine technicians make more than personal care aides, but no one can dispute that personal care aides are greatly needed and should be greatly valued.
The Bureau of Labor projects that the labor force will grow from 150.5 million in 2014 to 160.3 million in 2024. Driving that job growth will be the health care industry and social assistance sector. Through this period most parts of the economy are expected to grow. However, employment in manufacturing, the federal government, and agriculture are projected to decline.
As far as working from home, as of 2010 roughly 2.8 million (2 percent of the U.S. workforce) of us were employed remotely or worked from home. In February 2017, Gallup Poll found that 43 percent of U.S. workers spent at least some of their time working from home.
The labor market has changed considerably since the 1890s. Far fewer of us work in fields or noisy plants. More of us are living longer and enjoying the fruits of our labor. Still, a lot more has to be done to level the playing field for everyone. Education is the key to unlocking opportunity. And with high school about to start for my youngest two, I will remind them of that as they go back. But first, of course, there is Labor Day weekend, and I’m quite confident their plans have nothing to do with work. Hopefully, yours don’t either. Enjoy the day.
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