The Labor Department protects the rights and safety of American workers. It enforces federal minimum wage and overtime rules through the Wage and Hour Division, investigates workplace safety violations through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and oversees the pension and retirement plan protections that safeguard workers' retirement savings.

The department also administers the federal-state unemployment insurance system, providing weekly benefits to workers who lose their jobs, and runs job training programs aimed at helping workers develop new skills, particularly those displaced by trade, automation, or economic downturns.

Perhaps most visibly to the broader public, the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics produces the monthly jobs report and Consumer Price Index inflation data, two of the most closely watched economic indicators in the world, capable of moving stock markets within seconds of their release.

Most of the department's roughly $14 billion discretionary budget is passed to states as grants for unemployment insurance administration, job training under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and employment services, while its enforcement agencies, OSHA, the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, are relatively small. It also houses the Veterans' Employment and Training Service and the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, which monitors child and forced labor in global supply chains.