Employee Participation

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week by the most in more than three months. The figure was a hopeful sign one day before the government releases the April jobs report.

U.S. worker productivity fell from January through March by the most in a year. Stronger hiring at the start of the year was partly responsible for the drop.

When Wisconsin Democrats launched their recall drive against Republican Gov. Scott Walker last year, it was all about unions. They wanted Walker to pay with his job for pushing legislation that stripped almost all public workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights.

Unions angry that Detroit is trying to mend its financially-battered books by laying off hundreds of workers and imposing steep contract concessions on those who remain are considering an illegal strike.

Employee confidence fell by 1.2 points in April following consistent growth over the past three months, according to the latest Randstad U.S. Employee Confidence Index.

The most visible organizing effort by anti-Wall Street groups since Occupy encampments were dismantled last fall were planned for May Day, a change from recent years when protests on the international workers' holiday focused on immigrant rights.