Despite fears of a sharp slowdown in the labor market, the official nonfarm payrolls report for May showed stronger-than-expected job growth, underscoring the resilience of the U.S. economy amid macroeconomic uncertainties.
The economy added 139,000 nonfarm payrolls in May, beating expectations of 130,000, yet cooling from the previous 147,000. Wage growth also exceeded expectations, with average hourly earnings rising 0.4% month-over-month and 3.9% year-over-year. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2%.
President Donald Trump celebrated the strong May jobs report, calling the figures “great numbers,” while renewing his public attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, urging him to lower interest rates.
According to Trump, borrowing costs should be “much lower” as they are costing the U.S. economy “a fortune,” suggesting the need to refinance maturing debt.
His remarks came after the Congressional Budget Office released updated estimates for Trump’s sweeping tax bill, which is projected to add $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.
A clash between Musk and Trump erupted on June 5 after the tech billionaire publicly slammed the tax bill, claiming it was pushed through Congress too fast and never shared with him during his brief tenure as head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk advocated for a leaner federal budget and painted the legislation as reckless spending.
Trump claimed Musk had gone crazy over provisions calling for reduced government support for electric vehicles. The president also floated the idea of scrapping all government contracts with Musk’s companies, including SpaceX and Starlink, as a cost-saving measure for the budget.
Tensions reached a boiling point when Musk posted: “Time to drop the really big bomb: Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,” yet offering no evidence to support the claim.
The feud sent shockwaves through markets, triggering Tesla’s worst trading session of the year. Shares tumbled 14% on June 5, erasing $150 billion in market value, though shares were up 5% by midday June 6.
Benzinga is a financial news and data company headquartered in Detroit.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tesla feels the pain of Trump-Musk discord but broader markets chug on
Reporting by Benzinga / Detroit Free Press
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