Summary: GAO commented on the Department of Labor's responses to its recommendations to: (1) strengthen secretarial direction; (2) correct long-standing problems; (3) obtain better information on program operations; (4) enhance work-force quality and efficiency; and (5) operate in a more business-like manner.
GAO noted that: (1) the Secretary of Labor established departmentwide goals and the Secretary's Management System, which integrated agency and departmentwide goals and provided a mechanism for monitoring progress and providing feedback to the component agencies; (2) Labor has developed plans for correcting long-standing problems in pension enforcement, rulemaking, the procurement process, and information management; (3) Labor has made good progress in doing required mine inspections, improving its inspection activities, revising its job training and unemployment insurance oversight, and developing audit plans; (4) Labor's plans for improving human resource management and strengthening productivity management should help to maintain a high-quality, more efficient work force; and (5) Labor has made progress in strengthening some financial management activities by improving financial reporting accuracy and timeliness, and better controlling financial management improvement projects and personal property inventories.
