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WASHINGTON — Promoting productive and rewarding careers for the freight workforce is a priority of the Biden administration as it continues to address bottlenecks at ports, the nation’s top transportation officer said.

Applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance rose unexpectedly for a second consecutive week to the highest in two months, suggesting that the recent surge in COVID-19 cases could be leading to dismissals.

U.S. consumer prices are likely to extend their eye-popping gains after soaring last year by the most in nearly four decades, further burdening Americans and ramping up pressure on policymakers to act.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a Jan. 11 tour of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach lauded the efforts that have kept freight moving through the facilities amid crushing backlogs.

Aiming to end the sales of internal combustion engines in California in coming decades, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 10 made public his proposed $286 billion spending plan for 2022-23 that calls for a $10 billion investment over the next six years to put more electric cars and trucks on roadways and in ports.

Benjamin Whitely headed to a Safeway supermarket in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 11 to grab some items for dinner. But he was disappointed to find the vegetable bins barren and a sparse selection of turkey, chicken and milk.

The federal regulatory landscape for transportation operations must prioritize safety, economic growth and climate change, the leadership at the U.S. Department of Transportation recently affirmed in a series of guiding principles.

A multiyear strategic plan recently unveiled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency outlined guidelines ensuring access to freight and commuter corridors during emergencies and preparing for the impact of severe-weather events.

The volume of traffic through the Port of Mobile’s container terminal hit a record in 2021, the Alabama State Port Authority announced Jan. 10.

Amazon.com Inc. employees in Bessemer, Ala., will vote by mail next month in a rerun election on whether to unionize, the National Labor Relations Board announced Jan. 11.