The United States celebrates its annual Labor Day holiday on Monday, officially recognizing the nation’s workers while also marking the unofficial end of summer.
The holiday marks the end of a three-day weekend used by many for final vacations as kids begin a new school year, and for retail stores to hold special sales.
The Transportation Security Administration said it expected to screen 17 million people at the nation’s airports, an increase of 8% from the number of Labor Day travelers last year. Those traveling by car during the holiday period are experiencing average gas prices that are more than 10% lower than the same time last year.
Parades in cities and towns across the country Monday will celebrate the official holiday, which has its roots in an 1882 parade in New York City that included 10,000 workers marching.
The national holiday would not come until 1894 when President Grover Cleveland signed an act enshrining Labor Day on the first Monday in September.
Some of the information in this report came from The Associated Press.
