Bloomberg BNA (08/15/13) Bruce Rolfsen

Inspectors from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were told April 29 to focus more on matters related to temporary employees. Since then, the number of inspections of temporary staffing firms has doubled compared with a year ago, according to OSHA inspection data. OSHA compliance officers are tracking when and where they find employees from temporary staffing firms at job sites that are facing inspection. They are making note of the temporary employees’ staffing firm, the firm’s location, who is supervising the employees, and how often temporary employees are being exposed to safety and health violations.

OSHA inspectors found between April 29 and mid-July that temporary employees were “exposed to safety and health violations” at 262 locations, according to Thomas Galassi, the head of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement.

According to Stephen Dwyer, general counsel for the American Staffing Association, since the April 29 directive, ASA and OSHA co-sponsored a webinar to address safety and health issues for temporary staffing agencies, and in late July association representatives met with OSHA officials, including OSHA administrator David Michaels. “The relationship has been a positive one,” Dwyer said.

Bloomberg (08/15/13) Jeanna Smialek; Michelle Jamrisko

The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in almost six years. Jobless claims fell 15,000 to 320,000 in the week ended Aug. 10, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. This is the lowest level since October 2007. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a total of 335,000 jobless claims.

Wall Street Journal (08/14/13) Eric Morath

U.S. consumers are increasing their borrowing to purchase automobiles, homes, and other goods, which potentially could boost the economy. Federal Reserve Bank of New York figures showed yesterday that automobile lending increased by $20 billion in the second quarter from the first three months of the year. That was the biggest gain in seven years. At the same time, total consumer debt fell by $78 billion from April through June to $11.15 trillion—its lowest level since 2006.