Labor Day has been celebrated as a national holiday in the United States and Canada since 1894.
Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor working men and women. But many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday.
Labor Day has become an important weekend for retail sales, said to be second only to Black Friday in sales. Ironically this means more than 24 percent of all workers in the U.S. (retail workers) may work harder and longer on Labor Day.
