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ODEP Senior Policy Advisor Nadia Mossburg (right, with Watson, her service dog) talk with Illinois State Sen. Laura Fine at the Women in Government Annual Conference in October 2018. Much of our policy work in the Office of Disability Employment Policy focuses on state and local governments, where the rubber meets the road in terms of workforce solutions. Our unique

It’s been a year since leaders across the United States, in order to slow the spread of this deadly virus, started asking people to stay home and limit their contact with others. Over the past year, the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has overseen the implementation of new unemployment insurance programs and expansions of existing programs to help

The economy added 379,000 jobs in February, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, leaving the unemployment rate at 6.2% – not much changed from January. The report compiles tons of data, so here are five numbers to help you make sense of the latest statistics. 9.5 million It has been almost a year since the

Brad Lomax and his brother Glenn.Photo provided by Leroy Moore. Black Americans in the civil rights movement have had a significant influence on America’s disability rights movement, with some playing crucial roles in both efforts. Much of the progress we have made as a nation achieving positive change forhistorically marginalized people and communities has been led by Black Americans with

A worker with a visual impairment uses accessible technology on the job. When I start work each morning, the first thing I do is open my laptop. The screen flicks on, displaying the seal of the U.S. Department of Labor. I move the cursor over to the network log in icon and begin the day. This process may not seem

Joan’s mother, father and two oldest brothers in 1944. Her mother worked as a maid prior to having children and her father was a laborer. Recently, I was invited to speak at an event honoring the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I am moved by so many of his speeches, but one quote in particular captures

The unemployment rate dropped to 6.3% in January 2021, according to the latest Employment Situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many workers are still in crisis and we know that the latest recession hasn’t affected everyone equally. In addition to major disparities in health impacts, Black Americans have seen disproportionate economic impacts from the pandemic. Among demographic groups,

Today’s report shows that our economy is still in crisis. In the spring of 2020, the economy lost 22 million jobs, and more than half of those jobs have yet to be recovered. Across all sectors of the economy and the country, joblessness, lost incomes, and fragile employment have left workers facing uncertainty at best and economic devastation at worst.

Editor’s note: This blog post is the first in a series celebrating ODEP’s 20th anniversary in 2021. For those of us in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, this year is a momentous one, marking 20 years since our establishment. It’s a time for both celebration and reflection, especially as we work to ensure all Americans

In its ongoing efforts to create a culture of compliance assistance within the Department of Labor, the Office of Compliance Initiatives organized a human-centered design class at the Office of Personnel Management’s Innovation Lab in February 2020. Two years ago today, the U.S. Department of Labor launched the Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) to complement the Department’s enforcement efforts. OCI