In April, the U.S. job report disappointed investors. The government did not add as many jobs as in previous months. On Friday, May 2024’s job report might reveal a rebound in job hiring in the government sector.
Falling job openings are the biggest headwind for Friday’s report. Job openings peaked in 2022 at over 12 million. In April, it fell to 8.06 million.
Technology Update
Treated as an underdog in the semiconductor industry, Intel (INTC) shares are steady at the $30.00 level. The firm will team up with Apollo Global (APO) to build a chip fab in Ireland. Intel will own 51% of the joint venture. Fab 34 is already producing Intel’s Core Ultra processors. It will ramp up production of its data center product, Granite Rapids. Sever sales typically have higher profit margins than desktop chips.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s (TSLA) CEO, said in a post on X that it will spend between $3 billion to $4 billion on chips sold by Nvidia (NVDA). Unusually, the CEO said that Tesla will prioritize AI processor shipments to X and xAI. Tesla has a lesser priority. This strategy may prove risky. X is less valuable than Tesla. Furthermore, Tesla might need to develop AI to stay ahead of the competition. Firms like Rivian (RIVN) and Chinese EV companies like Li Auto and BYD could catch up.
