WASHINGTON — Higher energy and housing prices boosted overall U.S. inflation in December, a sign that the Federal Reserve’s drive to slow inflation to its 2% target may remain a bumpy one.

The nation’s employers added a solid 199,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell, fresh signs that the economy could achieve an elusive “soft landing.”

WASHINGTON — The nation’s employers slowed their hiring in October, adding a modest but still decent 150,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market may be cooling but remains resilient.

Legislation aimed at preventing an acting head of the Department of Labor from remaining in the job indefinitely was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Julie Su’s nomination to lead the Labor Department moved closer to defeat with the announcement of Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition.

UPS on July 11 pushed to Aug. 8 the release date for its second-quarter financial report, a week after its labor contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is set to expire.

Nearly two months after a committee approved Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su’s nomination to lead the department, Democratic leaders in the Senate have yet to schedule a floor vote.

A tentative six-year agreement has been reached between the Pacific Maritime Association and the 22,000-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

A vote to confirm Julie Su, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Labor, is on the radar for Senate Democrats.