Labor market added 315,000 jobs in August, a bright spot in the economy
The U.S. labor market added 315,000 jobs in August, hitting a 20-month streak in strong job growth that’s powering an economy through ominously high inflation. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.7 percent, according to a monthly jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, with 344,000 more people unemployed than the previous month. The labor force participation rate also ticked up by 0.3 percent in August up to 62.4 percent, a sign that more Americans are looking to return to work, with many finding jobs. Continue reading at The Washington Post. (Craig Hudson)
Sound Transit goes all-in on a gentler kind of fare enforcement
After two years of not enforcing payment, Sound Transit will bring back spot checks of passengers by deploying “fare ambassadors” who educate nonpaying riders and issue lighter penalties — a new strategy leaders hope will change the agency’s history of unequal enforcement against Black and homeless people. The transit agency will invest a possible $672 million over the next quarter-century for this new method, which will have blue-and-yellow clad ambassadors asking 10% of daily light-rail passengers to show a fare ticket or ORCA fare card. Sound Transit and King County Metro suspended fare enforcement by security guards in paramilitary uniforms in spring 2020 to reduce risk of COVID-19 spread. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Ellen M. Banner)
Wildfire smoke is here to stay. But critics say our preparations are still ‘lackadaisical’
August and September in the Pacific Northwest now come with a reliable risk of wildfire smoke. When it rolls in, the sky turns orange and hazy. The air smells like a campfire. And our health — physical and mental — suffers. But local governments are still working out how to protect people from this polluted air. For some, the smoke can be fatal. Researchers estimate that Washington state’s two weeks of wildfire smoke in 2020 contributed to about 160 deaths. Continue reading at KUOW. (Megan Farmer)
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