Fewer Americans applied for unemployment aid last week than at any time in the last 50 years, a sign employers are retaining workers amid a tight labor market. Some 187,000 workers filed for jobless aid in the week ended March 19, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The numbers, adjusted …

Two southeast Iowa teenagers used a baseball bat last fall to kill their high school Spanish teacher, and one of them described in social media posts how they followed the woman, carried out the attack and hid her body, police allege in court documents publicly released this week. Jeremy Goodale …

The White House is marking Equal Pay Day by taking new steps aimed at ending the gender pay gap for federal workers and contractors. President Biden on Tuesday is signing an executive order that encourages the government to consider banning federal contractors from seeking information about job applicants’ prior salary …

Julie Ann Bonds died from a brutal attack that left deep cuts to her skull and a spatter of puncture wounds all over the left side of her chest. The body of the 24-year-old woman was discovered in her home in Andalusia in south Alabama on the morning of May …

The governors of Florida and Texas are sparring with big business as some companies voice objections to new measures targeting LGBTQ rights in both states.  In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis called Walt Disney Co. “woke” after its muted objection to a bill that would ban classroom talk about sexual orientation …

Top Michigan Republicans on Tuesday denounced a state House candidate over his remarks about rape, the latest in a number of controversial comments from the man who narrowly won a special GOP primary a week ago. Robert “RJ” Regan made the statements Sunday in a livestream hosted by a conservative group …

The Federal Reserve will move ahead with raising interest rates at its upcoming meeting, though how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will affect the U.S. economy isn’t certain, Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday. The central bank head’s remarks come as the United States faces soaring inflation, with prices increasing at their …

Topeka, Kansas — The labor force now has 1 million fewer women than it did when the pandemic began — and childcare has been cited as one of the major reasons why, according to the National Women’s Law Center. The cost of child care now amounts to 31% of the average …

The Black man who served as foreman of the jury that convicted three White men of federal hate crimes in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery said he believes the guilty verdicts show that while acts of racial violence still occur in the U.S., “we’re moving in the right direction.” Marcus …

All of the living former U.S. presidents, with the exception of former President Trump, have issued formal statements condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.  Republican and Democratic ex-presidents characterized the Kremlin’s assault as “brazen,” “reckless,” “the gravest security crisis on the European continent since World War II” and …