On The Money — Job growth slows but still beats forecasts

The U.S. labor market isn’t quite as strong as it was earlier this year, but it’s still churning ahead. We’ll also look at a desperate attempt to revive President Biden’s domestic economic agenda and a pending data privacy bill.

But first, there’s been a concession in the critical Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania.

Welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

390K jobs added in May, unemployment at 3.6%

The U.S added 390,000 jobs and the unemployment rate held even at 3.6 percent in May, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.

The May jobs report was largely in line with economists’ expectations as employment growth slowed slightly from the torrid gains seen earlier in the year. Consensus projections from experts saw the U.S. gaining 350,000 jobs last month and pushing the jobless rate down to 3.5 percent, its level in February 2020.

• Economists expected job growth to slow in May after the U.S. added more than 2 million jobs this year despite high inflation, staggering gas prices, rising interest rates and fading fiscal stimulus.

• While some experts have become increasingly concerned about the risks of a recession next year, employment and consumer spending have continued to grow through 2022.

Sylvan breaks it down here.

SAY IT AIN’T JOE 

Senators make last-ditch bid for Manchin’s backing

Democrats and Republicans are competing for Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) attention when it comes to what elements of President Biden’s agenda are still in play ahead of the midterm elections knowing full well Washington will soon move into full-time campaign mode.

While Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is attempting to get Manchin on board with climate change and lower prescription drug price proposals, GOP lawmakers are trying to divert Manchin’s attention toward bipartisan negotiations on gun control and energy legislation — anything to keep the pivotal senator out of the New York Democrat’s office as much as possible.

• Schumer is privately trying to negotiate with Manchin on a budget bill that addresses climate change and lowers prescription drug prices all while anti-tax activists are running ads in West Virginia pressing him to reject proposed fiscal increases to fund such Democratic priorities.

• Mike Lux, a Democratic strategist, said when it comes to the GOP side of things, Republicans are “trying to run out the clock” by pulling Manchin into gun control and energy negotiations and away from spending time on elements of Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

• A group of 26 House Democrats piled more pressure on Manchin and Schumer to strike a deal by penning a letter last month warning that constituents will see a spike in health insurance premiums unless Congress extends premium tax credit enhancements.

Schumer has left his Senate Democratic colleagues mostly in the dark about what’s happening in his talks with Manchin.

Schumer met with Manchin at least twice in his office before the Memorial Day recess, and the Democratic leader says he’s not giving up on locking down Manchin’s vote.

Check out more here from The Hill’s Alex Bolton.

BIG DATA ENERGY  

Key congressional lawmakers draft competing data privacy bills

Three key congressional lawmakers released a draft of a comprehensive data privacy bill on Friday, but the proposal lacks support from Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and the top House Commerce Committee Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) unveiled details of their draft privacy bill, which would require companies to design products with privacy in mind and includes even stricter regulations for dealing with customers under the age of 17.

• Cantwell drafted her own data privacy bill, breaking from her colleagues and posing additional hurdles for a federal data privacy law moving forward.

• A key difference between the two versions revolves around the degree to which individuals can pursue legal challenges against companies over data privacy breaches under the new law.

Read more here from The Hill’s Rebecca Klar.

STRAIGHT TO THE MOON  

Biden responds to Musk concerns about economy: ‘Lots of luck on his trip to the moon’

President Biden on Friday shrugged off Elon Musk’s pessimistic outlook on the economy, wishing the Tesla and SpaceX founder “lots of luck on his trip to the moon.”

Musk reportedly wrote in an email to Tesla executives that he has a “super bad feeling” about the economy and that the company would need to slash 10 percent of its workforce. Biden was asked to respond to Musk’s comments after giving remarks on the May jobs report from Delaware.

• The president pointed to new investments in electric vehicles from Ford that will create 6,000 new union jobs, as well as investments from Chrysler in electric vehicles and Intel in developing computer chips at a new factory. “So, you know, lots of luck on his trip to the moon,” Biden said.

• The relationship between Musk and the White House has been tense at times. The White House frequently touts investments in electric vehicles and cleaner energy, but infrequently mentions Tesla, something Musk has taken note of.

The Hill’s Brett Samuels has more on this here.

SEE ALSO: Musk eyes Tesla jobs cuts, cites ‘bad feeling’ over economy

Good to Know

Across the nation, employees have had enough. Scores are telling their bosses they will quit at the end of this year, fed up with working conditions, low pay and fraying relationships.

Only in this case, those employees are state legislators, and the bosses they are leaving are the constituents who sent them to make law in state capitals.

Here’s what else we have our eye on:

• The European Union on Friday formally adopted a sanctions package banning oil imports from Russia in response to its February invasion of Ukraine.

• Health insurers will issue $1 billion worth of rebates to consumers this year, according to an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday finalized biofuels requirements with mixed results for the ethanol and oil industries.

• Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter for $44 billion has cleared a regulatory step with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Twitter said Friday.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you next week.

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