Employment and Training Administration ETA

The Wagner-Peyser Act of June 6, 1933, created a national network of public employment offices run with the states, and the Social Security Act of 1935 established the federal-state unemployment insurance system. The National Apprenticeship Act followed in 1937. These programs were gathered over the decades into what became the Employment and Training Administration in 1975, led by the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.

ETA oversees the unemployment insurance system, in which states set benefit levels and run their own programs under federal rules and financing. It funds job training under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, delivered through about 2,300 American Job Centers run by state and local workforce boards, registers apprenticeship programs, and runs Job Corps, a residential training program for young people created in 1964. Its Office of Foreign Labor Certification reviews employer requests to hire foreign workers, including permanent labor certifications and wage filings for H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B visas.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment claims surged to record levels and temporary federal programs paid hundreds of billions of dollars, overwhelming state systems and leading to large losses from fraud. In May 2025 the department announced a pause in operations at contractor-run Job Corps centers, citing cost and poor outcomes, and a federal court blocked the move, after which an August 10, 2026 settlement rescinded the pause and the related contract terminations, while the administration also proposed consolidating training programs into a single grant to states. Supporters said the changes would cut waste and give states flexibility, while critics said they would strand vulnerable young people and weaken training.