The first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary. By 1893, more than half the states were observing a “Labor Day” on one day or another, and Congress passed a bill to establish a federal holiday in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill soon afterward, designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day.


The Asian American civilian labor force totaled 7,326,000 in July 2008, with a participation rate of 67.8% . A total of 7,030,000 Asian Americans were employed during this month.

The number of uninsured Asians remained statistically unchanged, at 2 million in 2006, while their uninsured rate declined to 15.5 percent in 2006, from 17.2 percent in 2005. Based on a three-year average (2004-2006), 31.4 percent of people who reported American Indian and Alaska Native as their race were without coverage. The three-year average for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders was 21.7 percent.

Real median household income of white households rose 1.1 percent between 2005 and 2006 (from $50,100 to $50,700), the first real increase in annual household income for this group since 1999. Asian households had the highest median income at $64,200, followed by non-Hispanic white ($52,400), Hispanic ($37,800) and black ($32,000) households. Income levels remained statistically unchanged between 2005 and 2006 for each of these groups.

Among Asian American workers aged 16 and older, 6.1% are engaged in management, professional, and related occupations; 4.3% are engaged in service occupations; 4% have sales and office occupations; 1.8% are in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; and 3.6% are involved in production, transportation, and material occupations.

Check out the U.S. Department of Labor’s “America’s Dynamic Workforce” report

Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao talks about labor in the USA