Latest news with #DOGE-related
Axios
06-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
The "look under the hood" jobs report
The May jobs report looks fine on the surface, but underneath there are signs of weakening in the labor market. Why it matters: The good news is that employers kept hiring at a healthy rate in May. But a few oddities in the report signal less momentum in the job market. What they're saying:"There are now clear trends in the data, not just vague signs, that even if the train is chugging forward, more and more people are getting left behind at the station," Cory Stahle, an economist at job search site Indeed, wrote in a note. "This isn't a bad report, per se, but there are clear signs of erosion just below the surface that may not be apparent just by looking only at the headline numbers," Stahle said. By the numbers: Payroll employment rose by 139,000 in May, roughly in line with what forecasters had anticipated. But the Labor Department revised down job gains in March and April by a combined 95,000 jobs. Job growth has averaged 124,000 a month in 2025, a downshift from 168,000 in 2024. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was steady at 4.2% — but that masked a steep drop in the number of Americans in the labor force. The share of adults who were employed fell 0.3 percentage points to 59.7%, the lowest in more than three years. It was due to a whopping 625,000 fewer people in the labor force — neither working nor looking for work. The intrigue: The bulk of job creation continued to be concentrated in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called "government-adjacent" fields, including health care. That sector added 62,000 jobs last month, above the average monthly gain of 44,000 jobs over the prior 12 months. "The month's modest job gains were concentrated in non-cyclical sectors like healthcare," Comerica chief economist Bill Adams wrote in a note. "Job gains in other cyclical private industries were anemic, reflecting the drag from policy uncertainty." Of note: The federal government sector, which has been hit by DOGE-related layoffs, lost 22,000 jobs in May alone. It has shed 55,000 workers since January. (Local government employment rose by 21,000.) State of play: The reported size of the labor force can be volatile month-to-month just due to sampling error, but the drop in May was unusually large. It may have fallen because of potential workers becoming discouraged about job prospects, or it could be attributable to immigration cuts reducing the supply of labor, notes Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic. No rate cuts soon The new numbers are the worst of all worlds for those hoping for Fed interest rate cuts — including the guy in the Oval Office. State of play: The Fed is on high alert for any meaningful deterioration in the labor market, which could trigger interest rate cuts to try to fulfill its mandate for maximum employment. This report didn't provide that — it's hard to square a stable unemployment rate and solid payroll growth with the kind of falloff in the job market that would bring in the rate-cutting cavalry, no matter what the beneath-the-surface details show. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in May, an elevated level that suggests some residual inflation pressure remains in the job market. The policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yield was up a whopping 0.09 percentage points this morning on the news, reflecting expectations that rate cuts are looking more distant. Between the lines: The Fed's policy committee meets later this month and is all but certain to leave rates unchanged, consistent with its wait-and-see mode for the impact of the trade war on the economy. The meeting after that is in late July, but that means there will only be one more month of jobs data by then. A rate cut then also looks improbable, barring a complete collapse in the data in the weeks ahead. It's far more plausible that by September there will be enough evidence of a downshift in the job market and economic activity more broadly.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why SAIC Stock Plunged Today
SAIC missed earnings expectations despite in-line revenue. The company is fighting through DOGE-related headwinds, but is an attractive long-term option. 10 stocks we like better than Science Applications International › Government contractor Science Applications International (NASDAQ: SAIC) reported disappointing quarterly results, weighed down by the government's efficiency drive. Investors were disappointed, sending SAIC shares down 13% for the day. SAIC is one of the largest so-called "Beltway Bandits" -- defense contractors focused on providing IT and other services to military, intelligence, and civil government customers. The company earned $1.92 per share in its fiscal first quarter of 2026 on revenue of $1.88 billion, compared to analyst expectations for $2.12 per share in earnings on sales of $1.87 billion. Net income was down 12% year over year to $68 million, and SAIC's operating margin fell by 70 basis points to 6.4%. On a call with investors, CEO Toni Townes-Whitley said that the business has been caught up in the efforts of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to scrutinize spending. Townes-Whitley said: While the operating environment has stabilized in recent months and recent budget developments provide improved clarity around future spending, we continue to see higher rates of turnover among our customers, contributing to procurement delays and award timelines moving to the right. We expect conditions to remain very fluid over the next few months as budget negotiations play out and agencies continue to implement the strategic priorities of this administration. The good news is the company expects DOGE to impact full-year revenue by less than 1%. The company booked $2.4 billion in future business in the quarter, which is 1.3 times the revenue it brought in, an indication of better times ahead. And SAIC reiterated its full-year guidance, implying that the company sees opportunities to make back the profit miss in the quarters to come. The question is how soon those better times will arrive. Townes-Whitley and other executives have said the DOGE impact so far, is more to delay procurements than to tear up contracts. But with a Congressional budget battle brewing, there is unlikely to be clarity about future spending anytime soon. With Monday's fall, SAIC is trading at just 10 times future earnings. That's nearing a recent historical low. It's possible we haven't bottomed out yet, but for long-term-focused investors, SAIC has reached a level where it is worth adding to the watch list. Before you buy stock in Science Applications International, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Science Applications International wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $828,224!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why SAIC Stock Plunged Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State Dept says DOGE's changes will be permanent amid Musk's departure
Elon Musk may no longer be the top dog at DOGE, but his reforms at the State Department will remain permanently in place, a senior agency official told Fox News Digital Thursday. As Musk's 130-day mandate as a "special government employee" comes to an end, the billionaire entrepreneur announced his departure from DOGE in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday night. During Musk's time as the head of DOGE, he helped usher in big reforms at the State Department, which included an effective dismantlement of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), staff reductions, and the cancellation of various foreign aid programs due to lack of oversight, inefficiency, and other reasons. What's Next For Doge After Elon Musk's Departure? 'Only Just Begun' The indication that Musk's DOGE-related work at the State Department will continue was reinforced by a new reorganization effort at the Department of State announced by Secretary Marco Rubio on Thursday. The new reorganization plans are expected to cut or consolidate more than 300 of the State Department's offices and bureaus as part of a massive overhaul aimed at streamlining the department, according to agency officials. The agency currently has about 700 offices, meaning the reorganization effort will slash, or join, more than 40% of its offices. Read On The Fox News App "We have too many godd--- offices," a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. "We're trying to shrink offices rather than create them." White House Discloses Who Will Lead Doge Efforts After Musk's Departure The State Department submitted a notice to Congress Thursday disclosing plans for the reorganization overhaul, which senior State Department officials said will be the largest restructuring for the agency since the Cold War. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added Thursday that many DOGE employees will remain part of the Trump administration, despite Musk winding down his work. "Surely the mission of Doge will continue," Leavitt told reporters Thursday. "Many Doge employees are now political employees." One of Musk's DOGE associates, Jeremy Lewin, has recently been tapped for a top role within the State Department. In April, he was placed at State for a different role. For his part, Lewin, however, disputes that he ever did any direct work for Musk's article source: State Dept says DOGE's changes will be permanent amid Musk's departure
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Obama-nominated judge allows lawsuit targeting Musk's role with DOGE to proceed, drops claims against Trump
An Obama-appointed federal judge has largely rejected the Trump administration's request for the dismissal of a DOGE-related legal challenge, though she did dismiss President Donald Trump as a defendant, while otherwise allowing the wranglings to proceed. "Defendants seek to dismiss President Trump as a defendant because the court may not enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties," a memorandum opinion notes, adding, "The court agrees." The memorandum opinion and order are signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Elon Musk 'Disappointed' By Trump's Spending Bill, Says It Undermines What Doge Is Doing "Defendants' motion to dismiss Count I against President Donald J. Trump, in his official capacity as President of the United States, is GRANTED. Defendants' motion to dismiss Count I against all other defendants and Count II is DENIED," the order declares. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Justice Department spokesperson said, "This Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump's ability to conduct official duties and will continue to do so whenever those actions are challenged in federal court." Read On The Fox News App Desantis Goads Congress To Follow Fl's Doge Blueprint As Musk's Cuts Still Wait For Vote More than a dozen states lodged a legal challenge regarding Elon Musk's work on Trump's DOGE cost-cutting initiative earlier this year. "This Court should restore constitutional order and, consistent with the Appointments Clause, enjoin Mr. Musk from issuing orders to any person in the Executive Branch outside of DOGE and otherwise engaging in the actions of an officer of the United States, and declare that his actions to date are ultra vires and of no legal effect," the complaint filed in February declared. Spacex's Starship Flight 9 Ends In Failure After Booster Loss: 'Success Comes From What We Learn' After heavily focusing on the effort, Musk later noted that he planned to reduce how much time he spends on it. Last week he declared in a tweet, "Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms," noting that he needed to focus on various business endeavors. "The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized," he noted on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. "I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least."Original article source: Obama-nominated judge allows lawsuit targeting Musk's role with DOGE to proceed, drops claims against Trump
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Are Elon Musk's DOGE days over? Tesla boss now wants to work '24/7' at his companies' after massive X outage
A major global outage at social media platform X may have pushed Elon Musk to the brink. Following the disruption, the billionaire CEO of Tesla , SpaceX , xAI, and X declared he's returning to a relentless "24/7" work schedule across his companies. The platform experienced a massive outage on Saturday, affecting tens of thousands of users globally, including in the United States, Germany, Spain, France, India, Canada, Australia, and Britain. According to outage tracking site Downdetector, user reports peaked at over 25,800 incidents around 8:51 a.m. ET, before dropping below 650 by midday. Reacting to the disruption, Musk posted on X: "Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms. I must be super focused on X, xAI, and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week), as we have critical technologies rolling out." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Girls Show Their Perfect Figure In These Sport Photos Take At Perfect Time True Edition Undo While X has yet to issue an official statement, the outage has amplified concerns over Musk's divided attention across his sprawling tech empire. From DOGE to Damage Control? Musk, who had previously spent significant time engaging with Dogecoin (DOGE) and meme-driven internet culture, signaled a shift last month. To reassure worried Tesla investors, he said he would scale back his DOGE-related activities to just a day or two per week starting in May. Live Events Now, with rising investor unease and operational hiccups like the X outage, Musk seems intent on projecting focus and discipline. Adding to the pivot, Musk recently said he would substantially cut political donations, including the nearly $300 million he reportedly funneled into support for Donald Trump and other Republican candidates last year. His political activity has sparked boycotts and protests, especially across Europe and parts of the U.S., contributing to Tesla's first annual delivery decline in 2024. He also spearheaded the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency, a controversial initiative aimed at slashing public sector jobs and cutting major contracts, which drew further public scrutiny.
