2024 Labor Day Facts

The Labor Day holiday is usually about beaches, BBQs, ballgames, and taking advantage of those holiday sales.

Some of you may have gotten out of town for the long weekend. According to WalletHub this Labor Day, 67% of Americans plan to get out of town for the long weekend, more than 210 million will enjoy a cookout, and thousands will pack college football stadiums.

Labor Day hasn’t always been this relaxing, though. The holiday’s roots can be traced back to the streets of 1880s New York City, where rival union leaders joined forces to protest the unfair labor practices that plagued industry at the time.

This is not meant to take the wind from your sails as you enjoy one last dip in the summer sun. Rather, these Labor Day facts may help you cherish the holiday even more. Its place on the calendar is uniquely American – most other countries celebrate labor in May. And there’s ample reason for celebration, considering the industrial fatality rate has fallen by roughly 77% since the early 1900s.

TOP 5 LABOR DAY FACTS FOR 2024:

• 78% of Americans left vacation days unused in 2023.
• 818 hot dogs are eaten every second from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
• 63% of Americans plan to barbeque over Labor Day weekend.
• Nearly 690,000 workers’ lives have been saved since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted in 1970.
• $174+ Billion is the annual cost of worker injury and illness in the U.S.