Monday is Labor Day, and it comes at a time when work has changed greatly.

Labor Day started with local celebrations in New York City and other locations in the early 1880s as a way for trade and labor unions to hold gatherings and parades. By 1894, it was a federal holiday.

The move was part of efforts of workers to secure better pay and working conditions for themselves. They wanted to be able to support themselves and their families, they wanted to ensure their own safety and they wanted recognition of the dignity that comes with working.

More than 125 years later, there are plenty of successes to celebrate, even if the world of work is far from perfect. And after the upheaval and job losses that followed the pandemic, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

For one thing, unemployment is low nationwide, statewide and in our county. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 3.5% in July, a record low dating back to at least January 1976. And Butler County’s rate is lower still at 3.2%.

For the seventh straight month, Pennsylvania broke the record of total jobs, with 6,149,000, up more than 14,000 from the month before.

And nationwide, companies have fewer open positions than they have in multiple years, but July’s figure of 8.8 million vacancies is still far higher than anything seen before the pandemic.

And there are still more job openings than unemployed workers, although not as many as there were just last year. Real average wages have also begun to rise after multiple years of stagnation.

These are all hopeful signs. The original message from trade and labor union leaders at the end of the 19th century was about more than just wages and working conditions, though.

They fought for those things because of something larger: the dignity of work. A job can both offer financial support and a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Monday is a day off for many — the Butler Eagle will not publish a print edition Monday — and that rest is important. But it’s also a chance to reflect on what work gives to us, along with what our work gives to the world.

— JK