Department of Labor
The Department of Labor's budget is dominated by the unemployment insurance system, which has soared in cost in recent years. The department runs numerous employment and job training programs, but these activities are generally ineffective and duplicate services available in private markets. The department also oversees an array of labor union laws and workplace regulations that restrict freedom and are costly to workers and businesses.
The department will spend $148 billion in fiscal 2011, or about $1,250 for every U.S. household. It employs more than 17,000 workers.
Timeline of Government Growth
- See this timeline for key events in the department’s growth.
Reading Room
- Here are background studies that examine the department’s activities.
Cato Experts
- Chris Edwards, Director, Tax Policy Studies
- Sallie James, Trade Policy Analyst
- Peter Van Doren, Editor, Regulation
- Walter Olson, Senior Fellow
Spending Cuts Summary
- Here are proposed spending cuts to save taxpayers $143 billion annually.
Downsize This!
- Failures of Unemployment Insurance. The UI system is costly to taxpayers and creates numerous economic distortions. Federal involvement should be ended and the states left free to design their own systems.
- Employment and Training Programs. Federal programs for unemployed workers have never worked very well, are relatively little used, and are unneeded in today’s economy because private markets provide many alternatives.
- Reforming Labor Union Laws. Federal union laws that mandate exclusive representation, union security, and prevailing wages are costly to the economy and restrict individual freedom. They should be repealed.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance. This program provides benefits for certain workers put out of their jobs by foreign trade, but it has no sound basis in economics.
"What is euphemistically called collective bargaining by union leaders and 'pro-labor' legislation is bargaining at the point of a gun . . . It is a dictate forced upon the employer . . . The issue is not the right to form associations.”
- Ludwig von Mises, Human Action, 1949.
