US says 168 million children are laborers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department reports that about 168 million children, aged 5 to 7, are working as laborers around the world, about half in hazardous jobs.

The report on child labor in 140 countries calls this an improvement from previous years.

But the department said the decline is a move in the right direction, but 10 percent of the world's children still are being forced to work rather than go to school.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez says the world needs to do more to address the issue. The report doesn't include the United States or countries in Western Europe.