labor day weekend

Labor Day signals the end of summer and the start of the school year, but it's also is a moment to consider America's workers and the long -- and continuing -- struggle for employee rights. Our photo gallery provides a look at images of workers, past and present.

Labor Day isn't just about rounding out the summer season with a nice three-day weekend, of course. It's a "national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country", notes the Labor Department, and has been a national holiday for over 100 years. In that vein, here's a roundup of recent labor-oriented legal news:

Despite heat waves, penny-pinching parents and a weak job market, most retailers posted solid sales in August. They benefited from better inventory control -- giving local stores more say in merchandising -- and well-timed promotions.

Here's news from the business world and other money matters to watch out for Thursday (last updated at 7:30 a.m. Eastern time): Americans Owe Less Credit-Card Debt: Skittish consumers reduced their credit-card indebtedness sharply in the second quarter, credit-rating company TransUnion reported...

There's some good news for people who wait to vacation until after Labor Day weekend: at least one industry expert expects gasoline prices to go down. Tom Klonza of the Oil Price Information Service told USA Today that he believes that prices at the pump could drop by as much as 15 cents a...

Before you head out to a picnic or your backyard hammock on Labor Day, consider the 26.3 million people in the country without jobs and what today might mean to them.The American worker should be celebrated today, and so should the American worker who wants a job but can't find one. Along with...

Travel this Labor Day holiday could be less stressful for the millions of Americans hitting the roads or heading to the airport, as fewer of us are doing it this year -- lots fewer. Forecasts call for just 39 million vacationers to jump in the car and head to the hills or the beach. That's 13...