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• Broadcom, Samsara, and CrowdStrike reported earnings beats driven by a surge in AI demand, with CrowdStrike specifically posting Q1 revenue of $1.39 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.10 per share. • Microsoft is accelerating its quantum computing goals, targeting the delivery of a commercially viable and scalable system by 2029. • Apple is scheduled to host its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next week, running from Monday, June 8, through Friday, June 12.

• U.S. employers added 172,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3 percent. • The data, which is seasonally adjusted, suggests a robust labor market that may complicate efforts to lower interest rates. • Donald Trump has pushed for steep rate cuts and recently celebrated the appointment of Kevin M. Warsh as the central bank's chair to achieve this goal.

• Experts and analysts are reacting to the May jobs report, which follows a series of other positive labor market indicators released this week. • The data suggests that the Federal Reserve's goal of maximum employment is currently under control, shifting the primary focus toward economic stability. • This shift is significant because it indicates that the inflationary side of the Fed's dual mandate is now a more pressing concern than unemployment.

• U.S. stock indexes declined and Treasury yields rose on Friday following a surprisingly strong May jobs report. • The robust labor market data has dampened investor expectations for additional interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year. • This shift highlights the ongoing tension between strong economic growth and the central bank's efforts to curb inflation through higher rates.

• Major U.S. stock indexes declined on Friday, driven by a second consecutive day of losses in technology and AI-tied shares. • The downturn threatened the S&P 500's streak of 10 consecutive weekly gains as investors reacted to market volatility. • Treasury yields surged following a May employment report that showed stronger-than-expected job growth, signaling that the labor market remains tight.

Government figures show unemployment rate at 4.3% amid rising inflation and economic uncertainty from Iran warUS employers added 172,000 jobs in May while the country’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, a sign of a resilient labor market despite rising inflation and economic uncertainty brought on by continued conflict in the Middle East.Economists initially predicted there would be about 80,000 new jobs and a steady unemployment rate of 4.3%. Job figures for March and April were also revised up 29,000 and 64,000, respectively, a 93,000 boost compared to initial figures. Continue reading...

• The tech industry has seen 123,000 job losses so far this year, according to the latest report from Challenger, Gray and Christmas. • In May, artificial intelligence surpassed market and economic conditions as the primary reason companies cited for implementing layoffs. • This shift highlights a critical transition in the labor market where AI is actively replacing human roles rather than just augmenting them.

New crisis at former vocational charity involves alleged withholding of data and breaching redundancy lawsCity & Guilds is facing potential legal and industrial action over claims it has been “dishonest” over plans to shed about 400 UK staff.Officials at the Unite union allege the owner of the training and qualifications body has been “unlawfully withholding key information during transfer consultations”, while also “advertising for new recruits when it is legally required to give staff at risk of redundancy first refusal”. Continue reading...

Casting shifts to EU talent as paperwork delays and visa limits make hiring British crews less viableFrom blacklists for UK passport holders to being asked to work illegally while on holiday, the plethora of extra costs and red tape thrown up post-Brexit are restricting opportunities for British actors seeking work in the EU.Mainland Europe has always been a springboard for those in the creative industries, from gaining crucial first credits on a TV, film or theatre production to building a marketable resume and paying the bills while attempting to make it big in the UK or US. Continue reading...

• Wall Street heads into a data-heavy week with the May nonfarm payrolls report due June 5 and Broadcom’s quarterly earnings later in the week, according to Reuters coverage republished by the Economic Times. • The S&P 500 has risen for nine straight weeks, is up more than 10% this year, and the Nasdaq Composite has gained about 16% as AI-linked technology shares keep driving the rebound. • Economists in a Reuters poll expect U.S. unemployment to stay at 4.3% and payroll growth to slow to about 85,000 jobs, a reading that could reshape expectations for Federal Reserve policy.

• UAE health authorities have confirmed that the country's public health situation remains stable while they actively monitor developments regarding the Ebola virus. • To ensure national safety, the government is currently reviewing the virus's spread and reinforcing its medical preparedness and response protocols. • Simultaneously, a World Health Organization (WHO) delegation visited the UAE field hospital in Rafah to evaluate medical and humanitarian services provided in the southern Gaza Strip.

• Morgan Stanley has upgraded its projections, warning that approximately 20% of banking jobs in Europe are at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence. • The report highlights a significant shift in the financial sector as AI capabilities evolve to automate tasks previously handled by human employees. • This trend underscores the growing impact of the AI revolution on professional services, potentially leading to large-scale workforce reductions across the continent.

Exclusive: Some fear raising rate for people aged 18-20 will exacerbate unemployment while others point to lack of evidenceRising rates of youth unemployment have created a split at the top of government over how fast it should meet its promise to give young people the full minimum wage.Peter Kyle, the business secretary, is understood to believe now is not the time to give 18- to 20-year-olds the full minimum wage, which Labour promised to do in its manifesto. Continue reading...

When an Inner Mongolia farmer sought two herders to tend his 3,000 sheep, he was swamped with applicants including graduates, factory labourers and white-collar workersA Chinese farm owner’s recruitment drive for shepherds has ended in success after his job advert seeking people to work on his Inner Mongolia ranch went viral, drawing the attention of city dwellers struggling to find work and highlighting growing strains in China’s labour market.Zuo Xiaoyong posted an advert on Chinese social media in late April seeking two shepherds, preferably a couple, to take 3,000 sheep out to graze on a 2,000ha pasture in the summer. The shepherds would also undertake indoor feeding and cleaning during the winter when temperatures can drop below -30C at his ranch roughly 300km from Xilinhot city, near the Mongolian border. Continue reading...

Musician says ‘we’ve lost that direction for our energy’ as his play The Last Ship returns to West EndThe fact many men no longer use their hands and physicality on a daily basis may be driving some of the toxic traits in modern masculinity, according to Sting.The singer, who on Wednesday announced that his musical about the last days of a shipyard was coming to the West End this autumn, told the Guardian that one of the byproducts of deindustrialisation was the loss of physical productivity for men.The Last Ship will be at Theatre Royal Drury Lane from 22 Sep to 3 Oct. Tickets go on sale from midday on 28 May. Continue reading...

Social services minister ‘concerned’ by some providers meant to help welfare recipients find workGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, was on 7.30 last night defending her decision not to get rid of the controversial for-profit aspects of the jobseeker program. More coming up. Continue reading...

Welfare advocates say while the reforms are a step in the right direction, the privatised employment services model has failed and should be torn upGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMutual obligations will be different for every welfare recipient, the employment minister, Amanda Rishworth, says, signalling an end to jobseekers being forced to submit “endless” applications for roles they may not be qualified for.But welfare advocates and a key trade union have said Labor’s employment system changes don’t go far enough and fall short of the reform needed to the failure-plagued sector – they have called for an end to the privatised job services mode,l which Rishworth admits is not providing enough help.At the lower level, a digital service with “individualised resources and brief interventions” for people who are work-ready but need help finding the right job fit;a “targeted provider-led” stream to help people build skills and confidence to gain employment;and at the upper end, more intensive services for people with complex requirements, who will be given more time, flexibility and support to build their confidence and capabilities. Continue reading...

• Artificial intelligence is increasingly replacing white-collar workers in the UK, where the services sector constitutes approximately 80% of the national economy. • Research indicates that job postings for AI-exposed roles, specifically software developers and data analysts, declined following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022. • The trend is most pronounced among entry-level positions, as AI provides a faster and more cost-effective alternative to human labor for routine technical tasks.

Employment minister Amanda Rishworth plans to move system from a ‘one size fits all’ employment services model to three streams of supportGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Albanese government has flagged a major overhaul of Australia’s employment system, with minister Amanda Rishworth on Wednesday expected to outline plans to ease Centrelink’s much-maligned mutual obligations regime.Rishworth is expected to tell the National Press Club that mutual obligation requirements were not helping Australians find work in a system that was “ill-equipped” and wasting the time of people who use welfare. Continue reading...

Peer’s comments come as Milburn report is likely to find government has failed to tackle youth unemploymentBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of Next has sounded the alarm about a “dramatic fall” in the number of entry-level jobs in the UK and its impact on youth unemployment, saying the retailer now receives twice as many applicants for each role than two years ago.Lord Wolfson said the clothing and homeware chain, where he has been chief executive since 2001, typically received 10 applications for every job in its shops in 2024 but that number has now risen to 19. Continue reading...

Hitting government’s target of getting 80% of workers into jobs would reduce cost of universal credit by £10bnTackling the root causes of joblessness, instead of cutting benefits, is the best way to get the welfare bill down, and polling shows voters support that approach, according to research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.In a forthcoming report, JRF economists show that hitting the government’s target of getting 80% of the working age population into jobs would cut the cost of universal credit by £10bn – an eighth of the current bill. Continue reading...

• China's short drama industry reached industrial scale by January 2026, producing 470 AI-generated titles daily and releasing 50,000 AI-native episodes on Douyin in March. • The boom relies on "reference imaging," where AI curators use composite prompts and social media photos of celebrities and bloggers to create character appearances. • This practice has led to documented harm, including a 72-episode period drama on the Hongguo platform that used the faces of fashion bloggers without their consent.

Exclusive: Some employees will be moved to new teams focused on AI agents and cloud infrastructureAs Meta races to recenter itself around artificial intelligence, the tech giant is mandating more than 7,000 workers must move to new teams, and it’s radically changing some employees’ jobs. The Guardian has also learned that some of these reassigned employees will shift to two new teams: one building AI cloud infrastructure and another that’s building an internal AI agent codenamed Hatch.Late last week, Meta employees received a notice that engineers had been “selected” for reassignment and would begin reporting to the cloud infrastructure and Hatch teams by the end of this week. Meta made a similar move last month when it reshuffled at least 1,000 engineers onto a new data labelling team called Applied AI, or AAI – at first giving them the option to volunteer, but later telling workers, “transfers aren’t optional.” Continue reading...

London-headquartered bank will reduce back-office jobs and aims to move some workers to new rolesBusiness live – latest updatesStandard Chartered plans to cut more than 7,000 jobs over the next four years as it increasingly uses artificial intelligence.The London-headquartered lender is one of the first major global banks to lay out plans to cut thousands of jobs, citing AI as a driver to make its operations slimmer as it seeks to increase its profitability and tackle competition. Continue reading...

After death of his father, Reed Jobs is keen for his $1bn venture capital fund Yosemite to make a difference“I saw my dad have cancer when I was a kid, and unfortunately that happens far too often. And that really motivated me to try to transform outcomes for other people out there.”Reed Jobs is talking about the death of his father, the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, to a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2011 at the age of 56, the experience that underlines his mission to make cancer a non-lethal, treatable disease. Continue reading...

• U.S. stocks surged last week with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ reaching new record highs, supported by stronger-than-expected April jobs data and solid tech earnings. • The S&P 500 climbed 10.42% in April to close at a record 7,209.01, while the Nasdaq 100 rallied 15.64% and Dow gained 7.14%, led by mega-cap tech and AI enthusiasm. • Employment growth exceeded forecasts in April with unemployment steady at 4.3%, while Q1 earnings for the Magnificent Seven are projected to grow 45.7% year-over-year.

• The US economy showed strength with private sector payrolls rising 123,000 in the latest month after 190,000 previously, beating expectations by double, while unemployment holds at 4.3% near full employment. • Atlanta Fed GDPNow forecasts 3.7% annual growth for Q2, with weekly unemployment claims at rock bottom and no recession in sight despite left-wing critiques. • Blue-collar nonsupervisory workers saw 3.7% hourly earnings growth and 1% hours increase, yielding 4.7% wage-income proxy rise outperforming white-collar gains.

New owner Modella Capital, which rebranded shops to TG Jones, blames weak consumer spending Dozens of former WH Smith stores are likely to close, putting thousands of jobs at risk under a radical restructuring plan by their new owner, which had rebranded the shops to TG Jones,The investment company Modella Capital, which bought WH Smith’s chain of 480 high street stores for £76m last year, blamed “weak consumer spending” as it set out the plan to landlords on Wednesday. Continue reading...