US Department of Labor awards $2M for North Carolinians impacted by paper mill layoffs WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded an additional $2 million to help North Carolina workers dislocated by the closure of Pactiv Evergreen’s Canton paper mill and by reductions at its Waynesville facility. The funding will ensure impacted workers have uninterrupted access to needed resources, including employment and training services. In June 2023, the department’s Employment and Training Administration announced the National Dislocated Worker Grant award of up to approximately $7.5 million, with an initial award of $2.5 million. The funding enables North Carolina to provide retraining, skills development, and job search assistance for dislocated workers in Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Swain, and Transylvania counties. With this incremental funding, the total awarded for the project to date is $4.5 million.Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants provide a state or local board with funding for direct services and assistance in areas experiencing a major economic dislocation event that leads to workforce needs exceeding available resources. 
http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/re....leases/eta/eta202504

US Department of Labor halts enrollment at two Maine Job Corps centers WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced new enrollment will not be accepted at the Penobscot Job Corps Center and the Loring Job Corps Center in Maine. The Job Corps facilities continue to face ongoing sustainability issues due to rising costs. In the coming weeks, the department will continue to carefully evaluate these and other Job Corps facilities.  
http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/re....leases/dol/dol202504

Secretary Chavez-DeRemer begins clawing back billions in unspent COVID funds WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer today announced $1.4 billion in unused COVID-era funding has been returned to taxpayers through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s General Fund, with action being taken to recover the remaining $2.9 billion. The roughly $4.3 billion was intended for states to use for temporary unemployment insurance during the pandemic. Instead, several states continued spending millions of dollars despite no longer meeting necessary requirements, which was uncovered in a 2023 audit conducted by the department’s Office of Inspector General.“Any money still sitting around for pandemic-era unemployment funds is a clear misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” Secretary Chavez-DeRemer said. “I’m keeping my promise to be a good steward of your money by rooting out waste to ensure American Workers always come First.” “It’s unacceptable that billions of dollars went unchecked in a program that ended several years ago,” Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said. “In a huge win for the American taxpayer, we’ve clawed back these unused funds and will keep working to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.”This funding originated under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in March of 2020, which established the Temporary Full Federal Funding of the First Week of Compensable Regular Unemployment for States with No Waiting Week program. The program was intended to provide expanded unemployment insurance to Americans unable to work due to the pandemic. Although TFFF was closed in 2021, the OIG’s 2023 audit found four states were allowed to access the funding “despite not meeting program requirements,” totaling over $100 million in spending. Read the full audit here.
http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/re....leases/osec/osec2025

US Department of Labor appoints Julia Pollak as Chief Economist WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the appointment of Julia Pollak as Chief Economist. In this role, she will lead the department’s economic research and provide analysis on labor-related policies and programs.“I am honored to serve this administration and contribute to the Department of Labor’s mission,” said Pollak. “In this pivotal moment for the American workforce, I look forward to using rigorous analysis to promote economic prosperity for job seekers, workers, businesses, and retirees.” Pollak comes to the department from the hiring site ZipRecruiter, where she served as Chief Economist. Earlier in her career, Pollak was a doctoral fellow and assistant policy analyst at the RAND Corp., and taught economics at Pepperdine University as an adjunct instructor. She also worked as a research assistant for defense studies at the Heritage Foundation.A graduate of Harvard University, Pollak holds a Master of Philosophy in Policy Analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She also served as a drilling reservist in the U.S. Navy from 2011 to 2022.
http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/re....leases/osec/osec2025

US Department of Labor appoints Julia Pollak as Chief Economist WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the appointment of Julia Pollak as Chief Economist. In this role, she will lead the department’s economic research and provide analysis on labor-related policies and programs.“I am honored to serve this administration and contribute to the Department of Labor’s mission,” said Pollak. “In this pivotal moment for the American workforce, I look forward to using rigorous analysis to promote economic prosperity for job seekers, workers, businesses, and retirees.” Pollak comes to the department from the hiring site ZipRecruiter, where she served as Chief Economist. Earlier in her career, Pollak was a doctoral fellow and assistant policy analyst at the RAND Corp., and taught economics at Pepperdine University as an adjunct instructor. She also worked as a research assistant for defense studies at the Heritage Foundation.A graduate of Harvard University, Pollak holds a Master of Philosophy in Policy Analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She also served as a drilling reservist in the U.S. Navy from 2011 to 2022.
http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/re....leases/osec/osec2025