In the week ending November 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 191,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since September 24, 2022 when it was 189,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 216,000 to 218,000. The 4-week moving average was 214,750, a decrease of 9,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 223,750 to 224,250.

ATLANTA – U.S. Department of Labor safety investigators have determined that an engineering and construction company exposed workers to safety hazards after an investigation into a worker fatality at the Hanwa Q Cells Georgia Inc. plant in White, Georgia.OSHA issued Hyoungwon E&C America Inc. a citation with a serious violation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s general duty clause for failing to protect employees against asphyxiation hazards related to nitrogen gas and another serious violation for not providing effective information and training on hazards related to nitrogen gas and oxygen-deficient atmospheres. The employer faces $20,522 in proposed penalties.The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may be adjusted throughout the course of the case process. Please check the OSHA establishment search page periodically for any changes in the inspection or penalty status.Visit OSHA’s website for information on developing a workplace safety and health program. Employers can also contact the agency for information about OSHA’s compliance assistance resources and for free help on complying with OSHA standards.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has resumed normal enforcement operations and is working diligently to continue its mission to ensure safe and healthy working conditions free from unlawful retaliation, while also helping employers reduce job hazards following a lapse in appropriations. During the lapse in appropriations, OSHA received safety and health complaints that did not meet criteria for excepted activity and, therefore, were not processed upon receipt. The agency is now actively addressing the backlog of complaints, which may be processed via informal inquiry, and OSHA will respond as quickly as possible. Individuals do not need to resubmit their complaints.Additionally, OSHA has extended the time employers have to respond to citations issued immediately prior to or during the government shutdown. Shutdown days do not count as “working days.” For employers whose citations were issued and/or received between October 1 and November 12, 2025, OSHA tolled the 15-day contest period due to the lapse in appropriations. These contest periods are now extended through December 4, 2025. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, a company has 15 working days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Penalties and citations may be adjusted throughout the course of the case process. Please check the OSHA establishment search page periodically for any changes in the inspection or penalty status.Visit OSHA’s website for information about the inspection process. Employers can also contact the agency for information about OSHA’s compliance assistance resources and for free help on complying with OSHA standards. 

In the week ending November 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 216,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 220,000 to 222,000. The 4-week moving average was 223,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 224,250 to 224,750.

WASHINGTON – The United States has invoked the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to review whether workers at Freixenet de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., located in Ezequiel Montes, Queretaro, Mexico, are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The United States has suspended liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods into this country from the Freixenet facility, which manufactures and commercializes cava and still wines. Today’s action demonstrates the Trump administration’s America First approach, which ensures our trade partners do not undermine worker protections to gain an unfair trade advantage or attract investment.  The Secretary of Labor and the United States Trade Representative co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC). On October 29, 2025, the ILC received an RRM petition from Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Alimenticia en General, Lácteos, Gastronómicos, Hoteles, Comercios, Franquicias, Similares y Conexos, C.T.M. The petition alleges that the company violated workers’ rights by interfering in employees’ union activity, discouraging worker support for a specific union, facilitating meetings for the company’s preferred union, and encouraging workers to support that union. The ILC reviews RRM petitions that it receives, and the accompanying information, within 30 days. After conducting this review, the ILC determined that there is sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms. As a result, the United States Trade Representative has submitted a request to Mexico to review whether workers at Freixenet are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Mexico has 10 days to agree to conduct a review and, if it agrees, 45 days from today to complete the review.  The RRM, developed under the first Trump administration, is an unprecedented trade tool that helps to level the playing field for American workers and businesses by preventing Mexican businesses from gaining a competitive advantage by violating labor laws.A copy of the request for review can be found here. A copy of the letter to the Secretary of the Treasury can be found here. Information about previous requests can be found here. Learn more about the department’s work to make global competition fair for American workers.  # # #