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USTR: Ambassador Greer Signs the U.S.-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade
WASHINGTON, March 14 -- The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued the following news release on March 13, 2026:* * *
Ambassador Greer Signs the United States-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade
Today, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer joined Ecuadorian Minister of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment Luis Alberto Jaramillo in signing the United States-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade.
"President Trump is unlocking commercially meaningful market access for American farmers and manufacturers, opening Ecuador's market of over 18 million consumers to U.S. agricultural ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, March 14 -- The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued the following news release on March 13, 2026: * * * Ambassador Greer Signs the United States-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade Today, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer joined Ecuadorian Minister of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment Luis Alberto Jaramillo in signing the United States-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade. "President Trump is unlocking commercially meaningful market access for American farmers and manufacturers, opening Ecuador's market of over 18 million consumers to U.S. agriculturaland industrial exports," said Ambassador Greer. "Today's agreement will further expand and diversify bilateral trade and investment to advance our shared interests while boosting America's competitiveness in Latin America. I thank Ecuadorian Minister Luis Alberto Jaramillo for his commitment to creating more balanced and reciprocal trade with the United States."
To read the text of the Agreement between the United States of America and the Republic of Ecuador on Reciprocal Trade, click here (https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Releases/2026/Ecuador%20Agreement.pdf). To read the tariff schedule, click here (https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Releases/2026/US-Ecuador%20Tariff%20Schedules.pdf).
To read the Joint Statement on Framework for United States-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, click here (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/11/joint-statement-on-framework-for-united-states-ecuador-agreement-on-reciprocal-trade/).
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Fact Sheet: The United States and Ecuador Agree to a Framework for Agreement on Reciprocal Trade
ACHIEVING RECIPROCAL TRADE: Today, President Donald J. Trump announced a trade deal to deepen bilateral trade and investment cooperation in the U.S. - Ecuador bilateral relationship that will provide Americans with increased market access in Ecuador while bolstering U.S. national and economic security.
* The Agreement on Reciprocal Trade will help U.S. farmers, ranchers, fishers, small businesses, and manufacturers to increase U.S. exports and expand business opportunities, and help reduce the goods trade deficit with Ecuador.
* U.S. goods and services exports to Ecuador reached $10.2 billion in 2024, and the agreement will substantially facilitate increased opportunities for U.S. exporters.
GROUNDBREAKING TERMS: The Agreement includes new terms to expand preferential market access, particularly for America's agricultural exporters, while also lowering tariff and non-tariff barriers. The key terms of the U.S.-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade include:
* Addressing Tariff Barriers: Ecuador will remove or decrease a range of tariff barriers across key goods sectors. Ecuador has committed to provide the United States preferential treatment for more than 90 percent of its agricultural schedule, including tariff elimination for soybeans, fresh and processed fruit, alcoholic beverages, and tree and ground nuts, as well as for certain dairy, beef, pork, and poultry products. In addition, Ecuador will no longer apply the Andean Price Band System to agricultural goods imported from the United States. These actions will create commercially meaningful market access opportunities for U.S. exports, supporting high-quality American jobs.
* Breaking Down Non-Tariff Barriers for U.S. Industrial Exports: Ecuador will address a range of non-tariff barriers, including by streamlining regulatory requirements and approvals for U.S. exports, such as: (1) accepting remanufactured goods from the United States; (2) accepting vehicles and automotive parts built to U.S. motor vehicle safety and emissions standards; (3) accepting U.S. medical devices marketed in the United States, and Medical Device Single Audit Program audit reports or certificates for medical device manufacturing facilities; and (4) accepting U.S. pharmaceutical products marketed in the United States, and surveillance findings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for U.S. manufacturing facilities in the United States.
* Advancing Trade Facilitation: Ecuador will continue to advance trade facilitation measures, including by ending pre-shipment inspection mandates, establishing contingency plans for its Single Window, and expanding the Authorized Economic Operator program to include express delivery carriers within three months of entry into force of the Agreement.
* Breaking Down Non-Tariff Barriers for U.S. Agriculture Exports: Ecuador is reforming its import licensing system, including by establishing an automatic renewal process for import licenses of U.S. agricultural products. Ecuador will recognize the U.S. meat and dairy food safety system and accept U.S. certificates, reducing onerous facility registration barriers to U.S. agriculture exports.
* Preventing Barriers for Digital Trade: Ecuador will prevent barriers to services and digital trade with the United States, and refrain from imposing discriminatory digital service taxes. Ecuador will support a permanent multilateral moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.
* Geographical Indications (GIs) and Market Access: Ecuador has committed to groundbreaking provisions that will preserve current and future U.S. market access for U.S. cheese and meat producers who rely on the use of common names. This includes ensuring that market access will not be restricted due to the mere use of certain cheese and meat terms, including asiago, feta, fontina, gorgonzola, gruyere, parmesan, black forest ham, prosciutto, salami, and others. Ecuador has also committed to only protect legitimate GIs and to robust standards for transparency and fairness regarding their protection.
* Protecting and Enforcing Intellectual Property: Ecuador has made commitments that will benefit American innovators and creators by enhancing intellectual property protection and prioritizing enforcement against intellectual property theft, including moving forward with a number of key international intellectual property treaties. Ecuador is also taking steps to resolve many long-standing intellectual property issues identified in USTR's Special 301 Report.
* Strengthening Labor Protections: Ecuador has committed to protect internationally recognized labor rights. Ecuador will, among other commitments, adopt and implement a prohibition on the importation of goods produced by forced or compulsory labor; reduce the minimum number of workers needed to form a union; permit and protect the formation and registration of sectoral-level trade unions; regulate the use of non-standard contracts for core enterprise tasks; and strengthen enforcement of its labor laws.
* Strengthening Environmental Protections: Ecuador has committed to adopt and maintain high levels of environmental protection and to effectively enforce its environmental laws. Ecuador has also committed to take measures to improve forest sector governance and combat illegal logging; encourage a more resource efficient economy; fully implement the obligations of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies; strengthen enforcement of its fisheries-related measures; and combat illegal wildlife trade.
- Strengthening Economic Security Alignment: The United States and Ecuador are committed to strengthening economic and national security cooperation and enhancing supply chain resilience and innovation through complementary actions to address non-market policies as well as combatting duty evasion and cooperating on investment security and export controls.
THE PROSPEROUS PATH FORWARD: In the coming weeks, the United States and Ecuador will undertake applicable domestic procedures in advance of the Agreement entering into force, in order to lock in benefits for American businesses and workers.
* Total two-way trade in goods and services with Ecuador was approximately $90.4 billion in 2024.
* As a result of this deal, the United States will provide Most Favored Nation (MFN)-tariff treatment to Ecuador for certain qualifying goods from Ecuador that cannot be grown, mined, or naturally produced in the United States, by the later of August 1, 2026, or entry into force of the Agreement.
LIBERATING AMERICA FROM UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES: Since Day One, President Trump challenged the assumption that American workers and businesses must tolerate unfair trade practices that have disadvantaged them for decades and contributed to our historic trade deficit.
* President Trump continues to advance the interests of the American people and our agricultural sector by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers and expanding market access for American exporters.
* Today's announcement provides a tangible path forward with Ecuador that underscores the President's dedication to bringing balanced, reciprocal trade with an important trading partner.
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Original text here: https://ustr.gov/about/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2026/march/ambassador-greer-signs-united-states-ecuador-agreement-reciprocal-trade
U.S. Naval War College Hosts 1 of Separation
NEWPORT, Rhode Island, March 14 -- The Naval War College issued the following news:* * *
U.S. Naval War College Hosts 1 of Separation
The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) hosted 1 of Separation, a suicide prevention training program, at its Newport, Rhode Island, campus on March 13, 2026.
1 of Separation combines comedy with life-saving education by having a team of professionally trained comedians provide mental health first-aid through demonstrations of what an open, supportive conversation looks like.
Col. Elizabeth Hanson, U.S. Air Force Senior Service Advisor at NWC, worked with Fleet and ... Show Full Article NEWPORT, Rhode Island, March 14 -- The Naval War College issued the following news: * * * U.S. Naval War College Hosts 1 of Separation The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) hosted 1 of Separation, a suicide prevention training program, at its Newport, Rhode Island, campus on March 13, 2026. 1 of Separation combines comedy with life-saving education by having a team of professionally trained comedians provide mental health first-aid through demonstrations of what an open, supportive conversation looks like. Col. Elizabeth Hanson, U.S. Air Force Senior Service Advisor at NWC, worked with Fleet andFamily Services to help facilitate 1 of Separation's visit to the college, where personnel from all tenant commands at Naval Station Newport were invited.
"The more resources we have to break down mental health stigmas, the better." Hanson said. "Different trainings appeal to different people, and this training could help someone who is struggling realize that it is OK to ask for support."
1 of Separation's program has been recognized across almost all branches of the U.S. military, replacing traditional trainings with live stand-up comedy, peer-led conversations, and the "Five Questions" Mental Health First Aid tool. Their approach has reached thousands of service members at installations worldwide.
Hanson related 1 of Separation's program to the NWC curriculum.
"One of the things the Naval War College does is educate our future leaders, and making sure that they are in a good state of mental health is important to ensuring they are able to help others." Hanson said. "It's like being on an airplane: you have to put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others with theirs."
1 of Separation has been featured in national and regional media outlets such as PBS NewsHour, KCRA News, Capital Public Radio, and military press, and were keynote speakers at the 2023 DoD/VA Suicide Prevention Conference.
Established in 1884, NWC informs today's decision-makers and educates tomorrow's leaders by providing educational experiences and learning opportunities that develop their ability to anticipate and prepare strategically for the future, strengthen the foundations of peace, and create a decisive warfighting advantage.
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Original text here: https://usnwc.edu/News-and-Events/News/US-Naval-War-College-Hosts-1st-Degree-of-Separation
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Receives $3.2M to Transform X-Ray Astronomy for the Next Generation
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, March 14 -- The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics issued the following news release:* * *
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Receives $3.2M to Transform X-ray Astronomy for the Next Generation
The grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will advance technology for the new Lynx X-ray Observatory, allowing astronomers to study the universe's first supermassive black holes with better resolution than ever before.
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The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) $3.2 million to advance the key mirror ... Show Full Article CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, March 14 -- The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics issued the following news release: * * * Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Receives $3.2M to Transform X-ray Astronomy for the Next Generation The grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will advance technology for the new Lynx X-ray Observatory, allowing astronomers to study the universe's first supermassive black holes with better resolution than ever before. * The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) $3.2 million to advance the key mirrortechnology for the new Lynx X-ray Observatory. Once launched, Lynx will dramatically improve sensitivity and imaging performance for X-ray astronomy.
The Moore Foundation grant will enable SAO, a part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), to expand technical work on an X-ray mirror system that increases the imaging capabilities of X-ray astronomy with 16x the field of view, up to 20x the spectral resolution, and 800x the surveying speed of current observatories.
"We need X-rays to confirm the identity of the earliest black holes forming," said Randall Smith, associate director for science at the CfA, and lead PI on the project.
"Lynx is a transformational X-ray observatory that is designed to detect the first black holes and understand how they formed alongside the first galaxies."
One of Lynx's primary scientific goals is to observe the dawn of black holes, or the first black holes that formed in the early universe. Recent discoveries from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have revealed candidate early galaxies and compact objects, but X-ray observations are required to determine whether these sources contain actively forming black holes.
"We need X-rays to confirm the identity of the earliest black holes forming," said Randall Smith, associate director for science at the CfA, and lead PI on the project. "Right now, our candidate sources are very bright in X-ray, but not for very long, and we need increased speed and resolution to observe and understand them. Lynx is a transformational X-ray observatory that is designed to detect the first black holes and understand how they formed alongside the first galaxies."
The new mirrors enabled by the grant use modern fabrication methods, including ion beam forming, which shapes materials at the molecular level, to achieve the precision needed for next-generation X-ray astronomy.
"Technology from astronomy often is transferred out to other industries. For Lynx, we're adapting advanced manufacturing techniques developed in other industries and applying them to X-ray astronomy," said Peter Cheimets, telescope developer at the CfA, and an engineer for Lynx.
"This is not a spin-off of space technology, it's a spin-in. By bringing these proven methods into astrophysics, and using them all at the same time, we can build mirrors with the precision, performance, speed, and cost needed to make Lynx possible."
To date, the Moore Foundation has provided more than $28 million in support for black hole research and the launch of new projects at the CfA. With the new grant, Lynx joins the list of CfA-led black hole projects to be funded by Moore Foundation.
"CfA is leading the way in next-generation X-ray astronomy," said Lisa Kewley, director of the CfA. "The support we've received, and continue to receive, from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is crucial to supporting the cutting-edge observatories that will allow us to gain a deeper and clearer understanding of the universe for years to come."
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About the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian is a collaboration between Harvard and the Smithsonian designed to ask--and ultimately answer--humanity's greatest unresolved questions about the nature of the universe. The Center for Astrophysics is headquartered in Cambridge, MA, with research facilities across the U.S. and around the world.
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About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation advances scientific discovery, environmental conservation, and the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit moore.org and follow @MooreFound.
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Original text here: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/smithsonian-astrophysical-observatory-receives-32m-transform-x-ray-astronomy-next-generation
NIH: Researchers Develop AI Tool to Predict Patients at Risk of Intimate Partner Violence
WASHINGTON, March 14 (TNSxrep) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health issued the following news release:* * *
Researchers develop AI tool to predict patients at risk of intimate partner violence
NIH-funded, automated clinical decision support could facilitate timely interventions for at-risk patients years before they might otherwise seek help.
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A team of researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that provides decision support to clinicians by predicting if patients are at ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, March 14 (TNSxrep) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health issued the following news release: * * * Researchers develop AI tool to predict patients at risk of intimate partner violence NIH-funded, automated clinical decision support could facilitate timely interventions for at-risk patients years before they might otherwise seek help. * A team of researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that provides decision support to clinicians by predicting if patients are atrisk of intimate partner violence (IPV). Using data routinely collected during medical visits, the team trained a machine-learning model, a type of AI, that was highly accurate in detecting IPV among patients in a study.
IPV refers to abuse from current or former partners that results in serious effects such as potentially life-threatening injuries, chronic pain and mental health disorders. It affects millions of people in the United States -- both men and women -- at some point in their lives. However, many cases go undetected, because patients can be hesitant to disclose abusive relationships due to safety concerns, fear and stigma.
In their study, the research team led by researchers from Harvard Medical School, Boston, introduced three AI models for IPV detection in healthcare settings, comparing their performance in predicting it.
"This clinical decision support tool could make a significant impact on prediction and prevention of intimate partner violence," said Dr. Qi Duan, Ph.D., director of the Division of Health Informatics Technologies at NIH's National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). "Given the prevalence of cases, the tool could be a game-changing asset to public health."
Many cases of IPV go unrecognized, leading to missed opportunities for timely intervention, according to the study authors. They report that current screening tools capture only a fraction of cases, while clinical and imaging records provide valuable information in detecting IPV risk. Notably, radiologists have an advantage in recognizing the signs of IPV, including the frequency of certain patterns of physical trauma.
The researchers used several years of hospital data from nearly 850 affected female patients and 5,200 unaffected age- and demographics-matched control patients. Because the collection of relevant clinical data varies across healthcare settings, the team designed two distinct AI models, one trained on structured patient data, in table form, and another trained on unstructured patient data from medical notes, including radiology reports. Further, they developed a multimodal model that is a fusion of both structured and unstructured data.
All the models achieved a high performance in the study. However, the multimodal fusion model outperformed the models that used either just structured or unstructured data. It performed accurately 88% of the time. Both the tabular model and the fusion model can detect IPV risk on average more than three years before patients enroll at hospital-based domestic abuse intervention centers. While the tabular model achieved slightly earlier recognition of IPV risk, the fusion model was able to detect more IPV cases in advance.
The fusion model achieved more stable performance than relying on either modality alone. The scientists explained that the different modalities are processed separately and only merged at the prediction stage. They found that the tabular framework is particularly relevant in healthcare, where there are variations across different hospitals in data availability and in the recording of unstructured data.
The researchers emphasized that the use of AI tools such as their machine learning models could assist healthcare providers in having timely conversations with patients about IPV and connecting those patients with appropriate support resources. Such AI tools are not intended for making definitive diagnoses.
"For decades, our healthcare system has depended largely on patient self-disclosure to identify intimate partner violence, leaving many cases unrecognized and unsupported," said Bhati Khurana, M.D., senior author of the study and an emergency radiologist at Mass General Brigham and associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. "Our work represents a fundamental shift from reactive disclosure to proactive risk recognition within routine clinical care. By analyzing patterns already present in healthcare data, this approach supports healthcare clinicians in initiating earlier, safer and more informed conversations with patients."
According to the researchers, when used in a patient-centered manner, this tool can serve as a key component of a proactive approach to IPV intervention, enabling timely and effective support and ultimately leading to improved long-term health outcomes for at-risk patients. The team developed guidance at the project website to help clinicians thoughtfully approach conversations with patients.
"The goal is never to force disclosure, but to help clinicians communicate with patients in a supportive way and to connect them with resources and support," Khurana said.
The research team plans to use AI models to develop a decision-support tool embedded in electronic medical record systems to provide real-time IPV risk evaluations in clinical settings.
For more about IPV: About Intimate Partner Violence | Intimate Partner Violence Prevention | CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/intimate-partner-violence/about/index.html)
For more about Automated IPV Risk Support: https://bhartikhurana.bwh.harvard.edu/airs
This research was co-funded by NIBIB grant R01EB032384 and the NIH Office of the Director.
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About the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB): NIBIB's mission is to improve health by leading the development and accelerating the application of biomedical technologies. The Institute is committed to integrating the physical and engineering sciences with the life sciences to advance basic research and medical care. NIBIB supports emerging technology research and development within its internal laboratories and through grants, collaborations, and training. More information is available at the NIBIB website.
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About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health(R)
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Reference
Gu J, Villalobos Carballo K, Ma Y, Bertsimas D, and Khurana B. Leveraging multimodal machine learning for accurate risk identification of intimate partner violence. Nature Portfolio Journal: Women's Health. 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00126-3
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Original text here: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/researchers-develop-ai-tool-predict-patients-risk-intimate-partner-violence
HUD: Secretary Scott Turner Applauds President Trump for Cutting Red Tape, Restoring Housing Affordability, and Increasing Access to Home Loans
WASHINGTON, March 14 -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued the following news release:* * *
Secretary Scott Turner Applauds President Trump for Cutting Red Tape, Restoring Housing Affordability, and Increasing Access to Home Loans
HUD Attacks Barriers to Building Homes and Mortgage Credit
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Secretary Scott Turner applauds President Trump's Executive Orders (EO), "Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction" and "Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit." The first EO terminates burdensome regulations that stall housing construction, deplete supply, and increase ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, March 14 -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued the following news release: * * * Secretary Scott Turner Applauds President Trump for Cutting Red Tape, Restoring Housing Affordability, and Increasing Access to Home Loans HUD Attacks Barriers to Building Homes and Mortgage Credit * Secretary Scott Turner applauds President Trump's Executive Orders (EO), "Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction" and "Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit." The first EO terminates burdensome regulations that stall housing construction, deplete supply, and increasehousing costs for hardworking American families. The second reduces regulatory hurdles that drive up borrowing costs, limit Americans' access to home loans, and constrain community banks' participation in the lending process.
"Homeownership is the bedrock of the American Dream, but that foundation crumbled under the Biden administration as red tape made building homes and securing mortgages increasingly more expensive," said Secretary Turner. "President Trump's Executive Orders will help HUD deliver on his promise to provide economic relief to American families and make homeownership affordable again. Ending burdensome regulations and improving mortgage affordability supports increased housing supply and pushes affordable homeownership back within reach for American families."
Regulatory costs account for nearly $94,000 of the final price of a new single-family home, and green energy mandates in building codes can add more than $30,000 to the cost of construction. Overall deregulation efforts in 2025 are projected to save Americans a collective $212 billion.
In accordance with the EOs, the Department will terminate regulatory barriers, reform programs, and incentivize states and localities to change burdensome rules that hinder residential development, housing affordability, and availability of home loans.
Cutting layers of red tape, including onerous energy and water requirements for manufactured homes, laborious permitting processes, woke "green" building codes, costly building mandates, and outdated mortgage processes, will boost housing stock, lower the cost of newly built homes, and broaden opportunities for mortgage credit.
HUD will also increase efforts to expand housing supply by aligning Opportunity Zone incentives with single-family home development and New Markets Tax Credit programs. Opportunity Zones have already created more than 400,000 housing units in distressed communities.
These Executive Orders will ensure that small banks, financial institutions, and housing developers have the resources they need to help first-time homebuyers, veterans, and families forge pathways to homeownership.
Since Day One, HUD has prioritized making the American Dream of homeownership attainable again for American families, including:
* Ending the Obama-Biden-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule,
* Rescinding onerous rules within its Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family mortgage insurance program,
* Supporting homeownership and housing affordability for more than one million Americans, including more than half a million first-time homebuyers.
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Original text here: https://www.hud.gov/news/hud-no-26-022
BLS Southeast Region Issues Report on Fatal Work Injuries in Florida 2024
ATLANTA, Georgia, March 14 (TNSLrpt) -- Fatal Work Injuries in Florida 2024 - A report from U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Southeast Region - March 13, 2026* * *
Fatal work injuries totaled 284 in 2024 for Florida, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Florida was down 7.2 percent from 306 in 2023. (See chart 1.) The fatal work injury rate was 2.9 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in 2024, a decrease from a rate of 3.1 in 2023. Nationwide, a total ... Show Full Article ATLANTA, Georgia, March 14 (TNSLrpt) -- Fatal Work Injuries in Florida 2024 - A report from U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Southeast Region - March 13, 2026 * * * Fatal work injuries totaled 284 in 2024 for Florida, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Florida was down 7.2 percent from 306 in 2023. (See chart 1.) The fatal work injury rate was 2.9 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in 2024, a decrease from a rate of 3.1 in 2023. Nationwide, a totalof 5,070 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2024, a 4.0-percent decrease from 5,283 in 2023. These data are from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).
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Chart 1. Number of fatal occupational injuries by employee status, Florida, 2015-24
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Fatal event or exposure
* Transportation incidents (109) were the most frequent type of fatal event in Florida, accounting for 38 percent of all fatal work injuries in the state. Nationally the share was also 38 percent. Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 104 over the year (See chart 2 and table 1.)
* Falls, slips, and trips (66) accounted for 23 percent of Florida worker fatalities; nationally the share was 17 percent.
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Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and Florida, 2024
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Private industry
* The construction sector had the highest number of fatalities with 88, down from 92 the previous year. (See table 2.)
* Fatal falls, slips, and trips resulted in 39 of the 88 construction sector fatalities.
* The foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors industry group accounted for 22 of the sector's fatal workplace injuries.
Occupation
* Transportation and material moving workers experienced the largest decrease (-9) in fatal work injuries over the year among the major occupational groups. (See table 3.)
* The construction and extraction occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 82. Incidents involving falls, slips, and trips resulted in 34 fatalities among these workers. Construction laborers accounted for 18 of the major group's 82 fatal workplace injuries.
Worker characteristics
* Wage and salary workers accounted for 88 percent of fatal workplace injuries in Florida; the self-employed comprised the remaining 12 percent. (See chart 1 and table 4.) The most frequent fatal event for both wage and salary workers as well as self-employed workers was transportation incidents.
* Fatal workplace injuries among female workers decreased from 27 to 16, with transportation incidents accounting for 50 percent of fatal events in 2024.
* Hispanic or Latino workers accounted for 42 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 24 percent of work-related deaths. White non-Hispanics accounted for 35 percent of work-related fatalities in Florida, compared to 56 percent nationally.
* Workers 45-54 years old had a decrease in worker fatalities from 66 in 2023 to 53 in 2024.
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Technical Note
Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, is a count of all fatalities resulting from workplace injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the national CFOI release Technical notes, the BLS Handbook of Methods, and the CFOI definitions.
Acknowledgments. BLS appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided source documents used to identify fatal work injuries nationally. See the national CFOI release Technical Notes for details on cooperating entities.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.
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Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Florida, 2023-24
Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Florida, 2023-24
Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Florida, 2023-24
Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Florida, 2023-24
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View original text plus charts and tables here: https://www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/news-release/2026/fatalworkinjuries_florida_20260313.htm
BLS Issues Report on Job Openings and Labor Turnover January 2026
WASHINGTON, March 14 (TNSLrpt) -- Job Openings and Labor Turnover January 2026 - A report from U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics - March 13, 2026 (37 pages)* * *
The number of job openings was little changed at 6.9 million in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires were unchanged at 5.3 million, while total separations changed little at 5.1 million. Within separations, quits (3.1 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.6 million) changed little.
This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, March 14 (TNSLrpt) -- Job Openings and Labor Turnover January 2026 - A report from U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics - March 13, 2026 (37 pages) * * * The number of job openings was little changed at 6.9 million in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires were unchanged at 5.3 million, while total separations changed little at 5.1 million. Within separations, quits (3.1 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.6 million) changed little. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for thetotal nonfarm sector, by industry, by region, and by establishment size class. This release also includes 2025 annual estimates for job openings, hires, and separations. Job openings include all positions that are open on the last business day of the month. Hires and separations include all changes to the payroll during the entire month.
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Chart 1. Job openings rate, seasonally adjusted, January 2024 - January 2026
Chart 2. Hires and total separations rates, seasonally adjusted, January 2024 - January 2026
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Job Openings
The number and rate of job openings were little changed at 6.9 million and 4.2 percent, respectively, in January. The number of job openings increased in finance and insurance (+184,000). (See table 1.)
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Changes to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Data
Effective with this release, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) estimates will incorporate the annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics employment data and the JOLTS seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data and seasonally adjusted data from January 2021 forward are subject to revision.
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Hires
In January, the number and rate of hires were unchanged at 5.3 million and 3.3 percent, respectively. Hires decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-67,000) and in real estate and rental and leasing (-20,000). (See table 2.)
Separations
Total separations include quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers' willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations include separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.
The number and rate of total separations in January were little changed at 5.1 million and 3.2 percent, respectively. The number of total separations decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-79,000) and in federal government (-10,000). (See table 3.)
In January, the number of quits was little changed at 3.1 million. The quits rate, at 2.0 percent, remained unchanged. The number of quits increased in private educational services (+16,000). (See table 4.)
In January, the number and rate of layoffs and discharges changed little at 1.6 million and 1.0 percent, respectively. Layoffs and discharges decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-55,000). (See table 5.)
The number of other separations changed little at 337,000 in January. (See table 6.)
Establishment Size Class
In January, establishments with 1 to 9 employees and establishments with 5,000 or more employees showed little or no change in job openings, hires, and separations rates. (See table 7.)
December 2025 Revisions
The number of job openings for December was revised up by 8,000 to 6.6 million, the number of hires was revised down by 21,000 to 5.3 million, and the number of total separations was revised down by 48,000 to 5.2 million. Within separations, the number of quits was revised up by 21,000 to 3.2 million, and the number of layoffs and discharges was revised down by 96,000 to 1.7 million. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors. The annual revision process also contributed to the December revisions)
Annual Levels and Rates
Consistent with BLS practice, annual estimates are published for not seasonally adjusted data each year with the January news release. For details about how these estimates are calculated, see the technical note.
In 2025, the annual average job openings level was 7.1 million, a decrease of 571,000 from 2024. The annual average job openings rate was 4.3 percent in 2025, compared to 4.6 percent in 2024. (See tables 15 and 16.)
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In 2025, the annual hires level was 63.0 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from 2024. Annual total separations decreased by 251,000 in 2025 to 62.8 million. Annual quits decreased by 1.3 million in 2025 to 38.0 million and accounted for 60.6 percent of total separations. Annual layoffs and discharges increased by 1.2 million in 2025 to 21.2 million and accounted for 33.8 percent of total separations. Annual other separations decreased by 224,000 in 2025 to 3.5 million and accounted for 5.6 percent of total separations. (See tables 17 through 26.)
The annual average hires rate for 2025 was 3.3 percent, down from 3.4 percent in 2024. The annual average total separations rate for 2025 was 3.3 percent and was unchanged from 2024. The 2025 annual average rates for the components of total separations were 2.0 percent for quits, 1.1 percent for layoffs and discharges, and 0.2 percent for other separations. (See tables 17 through 26.)
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The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey estimates for February 2026 are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
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Annual Revisions to Job Openings and Labor Turnover Data
The JOLTS data are revised annually to reflect updates to the Current Employment Statistics (CES) employment estimates. The JOLTS employment levels (not published) are ratio-adjusted to the CES employment levels, and the resulting ratios are applied to all JOLTS data elements. This annual benchmarking process results in revisions to both the seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted JOLTS data series. The seasonally adjusted data are recalculated for the most recent 5 years to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors. Further, the alignment methodology creates a dependency of the not seasonally adjusted estimates on the seasonal adjustment process. Therefore, the data series that are not seasonally adjusted are also recalculated for the most recent 5 years to reflect the effect of the updated seasonal adjustment factors on the alignment process.
Tables B through G below present revised total nonfarm data for January through December 2025. The December 2025 revisions also reflect the routine incorporation of additional sample receipts into the final December estimates. Tables presenting revisions to JOLTS estimates for January 2021 through December 2025 will be available concurrently with the release on the JOLTS website. The website also contains all revised seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data. The revision tables and data can be accessed through the JOLTS homepage at www.bls.gov/jlt/.
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Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted
Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted -- Continued
Table B. Revisions in job openings data, seasonally adjusted
Table C. Revisions in hires data, seasonally adjusted
Table D. Revisions in total separations data, seasonally adjusted
Table E. Revisions in quits data, seasonally adjusted
Table F. Revisions in layoffs and discharges data, seasonally adjusted
Table G. Revisions in other separations data, seasonally adjusted
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Technical Note
This news release presents statistics from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The JOLTS program provides information on labor demand and turnover. Additional information about the JOLTS program can be found at www.bls.gov/jlt/. Estimates are published for job openings, hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, other separations, and total separations. The JOLTS program covers all private nonfarm establishments, as well as civilian federal, state, and local government entities in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Starting with data for January 2023, industries are classified in accordance with the 2022 North American Industry Classification System.
Definitions
Employment. Employment includes persons on the payroll who worked or received pay for the pay period that includes the 12th day of the reference month. Full-time, part-time, permanent, short-term, seasonal, salaried, and hourly employees are included, as are employees on paid vacation or other paid leave. Proprietors or partners of unincorporated businesses, unpaid family workers, employees on strike for the entire pay period, and employees on leave without pay for the entire pay period are not counted as employed. Employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, outside contractors, and consultants are counted by their employer of record, not by the establishment where they are working. JOLTS does not publish employment estimates but uses the reported employment for validation of the other reported data elements.
Job Openings. Job openings include all positions that are open on the last business day of the reference month. A job is open only if it meets all three of these conditions:
* A specific position exists, and there is work available for that position. The position can be full-time or part-time, and it can be permanent, short-term, or seasonal.
* The job could start within 30 days, whether or not the employer can find a suitable candidate during that time.
* The employer is actively recruiting workers from outside the establishment to fill the position. Active recruiting means that the establishment is taking steps to fill a position. It may include advertising in newspapers, on television, or on the radio; posting internet notices, posting "help wanted" signs, networking or making "word-of-mouth" announcements; accepting applications; interviewing candidates; contacting employment agencies; or soliciting employees at job fairs, state or local employment offices, or similar sources.
Excluded are positions open only to internal transfers, promotions or demotions, or recall from layoffs. Also excluded are openings for positions with start dates more than 30 days in the future; positions for which employees have been hired but have not yet reported for work; and positions to be filled by employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants. The job openings rate is computed by dividing the number of job openings by the sum of employment and job openings--that is, all filled and unfilled jobs--and multiplying that quotient by 100.
Hires. Hires include all additions to the payroll during the entire reference month, including newly hired and rehired employees; full-time and part-time employees; permanent, short-term, and seasonal employees; employees who were recalled to a job at the location following a layoff (formal suspension from pay status) lasting more than 7 days; on-call or intermittent employees who returned to work after having been formally separated; workers who were hired and separated during the month, and transfers from other locations. Excluded are transfers or promotions within the reporting location, employees returning from strike, employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants. The hires rate is computed by dividing the number of hires by employment and multiplying that quotient by 100.
Separations. Separations include all separations from the payroll during the entire reference month and is reported by type of separation: quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits include employees who left voluntarily, with the exception of retirements or transfers to other locations. Layoffs and discharges includes involuntary separations initiated by the employer, including layoffs with no intent to rehire; layoffs (formal suspensions from pay status) lasting or expected to last more than 7 days; discharges resulting from mergers, downsizing, or closings; firings or other discharges for cause; terminations of permanent or short-term employees; and terminations of seasonal employees (whether or not they are expected to return the next season). Other separations include retirements, transfers to other locations, separations due to employee disability, and deaths.
Excluded from separations measures are transfers within the same location; employees on strike; and employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants. The separations rate is computed by dividing the number of separations by employment and multiplying that quotient by 100. The quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations rates are computed similarly.
Estimation Method
The JOLTS survey design is a stratified random sample of approximately 21,000 nonfarm business and government establishments. The sample is stratified by ownership, region, industry sector, and establishment size class.
The sampling frame is made up of establishments from two sources: the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program (QCEW) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The QCEW database contains establishments that cover approximately 95 percent of nonfarm payroll jobs in the United States. This database is a compilation of administrative data from state unemployment insurance (UI) programs and federal government establishments covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. A frame of railroad establishments is provided by the FRA. This is added to the QCEW database to complete the JOLTS sampling frame.
The JOLTS estimation method involves the following processes: unit nonresponse adjustment, item nonresponse adjustment, monthly benchmarking and estimation, automatic outlier detection, birth and death model estimation, estimates review and outlier selection, alignment, seasonal adjustment, and variance estimates. Establishment size class levels are also produced. Detailed information about the estimation method can be found in the Handbook of Methods at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/jlt/home.htm.
Monthly benchmarking is the process through which the JOLTS weighted employment for each estimation cell is adjusted. JOLTS estimation cells are benchmarked monthly to the current employment level from the BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The sampled weight is benchmarked to ensure that JOLTS weighted employment is equal to CES employment.
Birth/death model. The time lag from the start up, or birth, of an establishment until its appearance on the sampling frame is approximately one year. In addition, many new establishments fail within the first year, referred to as a death. Because new and short-lived universe establishments cannot be reflected in the sampling frame immediately, the JOLTS sample cannot capture job openings, hires, and separations from these establishments during their early existence. BLS has developed a birth/death model that uses establishment birth and death activity from previous years as collected by the QCEW and projects forward to the present using over-the-year change in the CES. The birth/death model also uses historical JOLTS data to calculate the amount of churn (meaning the rates of hires and separations) that exists in establishments of various sizes. The model then combines the calculated churn with the projected employment change to estimate the number of hires and separations that take place in these establishments that cannot be measured through sampling. The estimates of job openings, hires, and separations produced by the birth/death model are added to the sample-based estimates produced from the survey to arrive at the estimates for job openings, hires, and separations.
Alignment. The JOLTS figure for hires minus separations can be used to derive a measure of net employment change. This change should be comparable to the net employment change from the much larger CES survey. However, definitional differences between the two surveys, as well as sampling and nonsampling errors, historically caused JOLTS to diverge from CES over time. To limit the divergence and improve the quality of the JOLTS hires and separations series, BLS implemented the monthly alignment method. There are four steps to this method: seasonally adjust, align, back out the seasonal adjustment factors, and seasonally adjust again.
Seasonal adjustment. After alignment, the seasonal adjustment program (X-13ARIMA-SEATS) is used to seasonally adjust the JOLTS series. Each month, a concurrent seasonal adjustment methodology uses all relevant data, up to and including the current month, to calculate new seasonal adjustment factors. Moving averages are used as seasonal filters in seasonal adjustment. JOLTS seasonal adjustment includes both additive and multiplicative models, as well as regression with autocorrelated errors (REGARIMA) modeling, to improve the seasonal adjustment factors at the beginning and end of the series and to detect and adjust for outliers in the series.
Annual estimates and benchmarking. The JOLTS estimates are revised annually with the issuance of data for January. Five years of data are subject to revision. The revised estimates incorporate: 1) benchmarks based on CES employment estimates newly benchmarked to QCEW, 2) revised seasonal adjustment factors, and 3) any needed special adjustments.
The JOLTS employment levels are ratio-adjusted to the CES employment levels, and the resulting ratios are applied to all JOLTS data elements.
The seasonally adjusted estimates are recalculated for the most recent 5 years to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors. These annual updates result in revisions to both the seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted JOLTS data series for the period since the last benchmark was established.
Annual levels for hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, other separations, and total separations are the sum of the 12 published monthly levels.
Annual average levels for job openings are calculated by dividing the sum of the 12 published monthly levels by 12.
Annual average rates for hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, other separations, and total separations are calculated by dividing the sum of the 12 monthly JOLTS published levels for each data element by the sum of the 12 monthly CES published employment levels, and multiplying that quotient by 100.
Annual average rates for job openings are calculated by dividing the sum of the 12 monthly JOLTS published levels by the sum of the 12 monthly CES published employment levels plus the sum of the 12 monthly job openings levels, and multiplying that quotient by 100.
Reliability of the estimates
JOLTS estimates are subject to two types of error: sampling error and nonsampling error.
Sampling error can result when a sample, rather than an entire population, is surveyed. There is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the true population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies with the sample selected, and this variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence. This means that there is a 90-percent chance that the true population mean will fall into the interval created by the sample mean plus or minus 1.65 standard errors. Estimates of median standard errors are released monthly as part of the significant change tables on the JOLTS webpage. Standard errors are updated annually with the most recent 5 years of data. Sampling error estimates are available at www.bls.gov/jlt/jolts_median_standard_errors.htm.
Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to include a segment of the population, the inability to obtain data from all units in the sample, the inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide data on a timely basis, mistakes made by respondents, errors made in the collection or processing of the data, and errors from the employment benchmark data used in estimation. The JOLTS program uses quality control procedures to reduce nonsampling error in the survey's design.
Other information
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Table 1. Job openings levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1
Table 2. Hires levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1
Table 3. Total separations levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1
Table 4. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1
Table 5. Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1
Table 6. Other separations levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1
Table 7. Job openings, hires, and separations levels and rates by establishment size class, seasonally adjusted
Table 8. Job openings levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 9. Hires levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 10. Total separations levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 11. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 12. Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted
Table 13. Other separations levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 14. Job openings, hires, and separations levels and rates by establishment size class, not seasonally adjusted
Table 15. Annual average job openings levels by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 16. Annual average job openings rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 17. Annual hires levels by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 18. Annual average hires rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 19. Annual total separations levels by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 20. Annual average total separations rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 21. Annual quits levels by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 22. Annual average quits rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 23. Annual layoffs and discharges levels by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 24. Annual average layoffs and discharges rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 25. Annual other separations levels by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
Table 26. Annual average other separations rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1
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View original text plus charts and tables here: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jolts.pdf