Labor Day Countdown

One last long weekend before the leaves turn.

How many days until Labor Day?

Live countdown to Labor Day 2027

About Labor Day

Labor Day honors the American labor movement, held the first Monday of September. It is the unofficial end of summer and the traditional deadline for the last beach weekend of the year.

The story behind Labor Day

The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City on September 5, 1882, organized by the Central Labor Union — and the workers who marched famously sacrificed a day's pay to be there. Some 10,000 people marched from city hall to a picnic in a park, carrying banners reading "Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will."

The holiday became federal in record time — six days. After the deadly Pullman Strike of 1894 derailed the nation's railroads, President Cleveland hurried a Labor Day bill through Congress as a peace offering to organized labor. He still lost the next election.

The "no white after Labor Day" rule is a leftover of Gilded Age fashion culture — the informal mark of summer's end when the wealthy returned from resort wear to city wear. Fashion magazines have declared the rule dead every year since at least the 1930s.

Labor Day dates 2027–2030

Labor Day facts

• Labor Day is the first Monday of September in the US and Canada.
• The first US Labor Day parade was held in New York City in 1882.
• It became a federal holiday in 1894, days after the deadly Pullman Strike.
• Fashion rule says no white after Labor Day — a rule everyone ignores now.