The American job market continues to show surprising strength, shrugging off the high costs of the Iran war. Employers added 172,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%. The Labor Department reported Friday that job growth was down slightly last month from a revised 179,000 in April. The unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.3%. Also, the Senate passed legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies early Friday morning, after weeks of delays and fierce backlash to an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund that threatened to derail the bill.
Stocks are sinking on Wall Street as big technology companies lost ground and weighed down the broader market. Meanwhile, bond yields surged as a strong jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will be forced to hike interest rates at some point this year. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 373 points, or 0.7%. The Nasdaq composite fell 2.6%. Nvidia and Broadcom were among the heaviest weights on the market. The Labor Department reported that employers added 172,000 jobs in May, roughly double what forecasters had expected. Oil prices fell.
U.S. employers added a surprising 172,000 jobs in May as the labor market continued to show resilience in the face of rising costs from the Iran war. The Labor Department reported Friday that job growth was down slightly last month from a revised 179,000 in April. The unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.3% The job market has been recovering this year from a miserable 2025, so far shrugging off higher energy prices and increased economic uncertainty since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
Scott Pelley may have lost his job after publicly blasting CBS management. But for many workers, he lived out a fantasy. In a staff meeting this week, the longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent questioned the qualifications of top executives and accused them of undermining the storied news program. While his bosses dismissed him, saying he exhibited “remarkable incivility and contempt," many others are cheering Pelley, saying it was like watching a fantasy play out after years of biting their tongues around bosses they viewed as clueless.
The strike shutting down North America’s largest commuter rail system will continue into a third day. Lengthy negotiations failed to reach a deal in time to save Monday morning's commute on the Long Island Rail Road in New York. The talks that began Sunday afternoon went past 1 a.m. Monday before negotiators called it a night, agreeing to resume discussions six hours later. The failure to reach a deal means the strike will mar the start of the work week for about a quarter million commuters. The talks involved five unions representing about half the railroad's workforce and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the railroad. The strike started Saturday. The two sides have negotiated for years over a new contract.
The shutdown of North America’s largest commuter rail system has continued into a second day with no end in sight after unionized workers went on strike. The Long Island Rail Road in New York was not operating Sunday, a day after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job early Saturday morning. The two sides have been negotiating for months on a new contract. The MTA has said it would provide limited shuttle buses to New York City subway stations in the event of a strike. Gov. Kathy Hochul planned a news conference for late Sunday morning.
Workers on New York’s Long Island Rail Road are on strike, paralyzing the busiest commuter rail system in North America. Labor unions representing about half the system’s workers announced the walkout early Saturday after negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority failed to produce a new contract. The five unions represent about half the system’s 7,000 workers, including locomotive engineers, machinists and signalmen. They are legally allowed to go on strike at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The strike will force the roughly 250,000 people who ride the system each weekday to either work from home or find alternative routes into New York City from its Long Island suburbs. That means more cars on traffic-choked highways and longer work commutes.
Workers on New York’s Long Island Rail Road go on strike, shutting down North America's busiest commuter rail system.
Starbucks said Friday it’s laying off 300 corporate employees and closing some U.S. offices as part of its ongoing turnaround. No coffeehouse employees are affected. The cuts will impact employees in support functions like marketing, human resources and supply chain management. Starbucks said no international employees are affected for now, but it's reviewing its corporate structure outside the U.S. Starbucks said it’s also closing underused offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago and other cities. Starbucks expects to the moves to result in $400 million in restructuring charges, including $120 million in employee separation benefits.