Market Voices: June jobs report, Ford CEO warns on AI, UPS buyouts

Seeking Alpha’s daily roundup of remarks and statements that could impact markets, sectors or individual stocks.

• The U.S. Labor Department’s monthly jobs report was stronger than expected, undermining chances that the Federal Reserve will move to cut interest rates at its meeting later this month.

According to the report, 147,000 nonfarm jobs were added to the economy last month. Analysts had expected 110,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate for June was 4.1%, falling short of the consensus estimate of 4.3%.

“Job gains occurred in state government and health care. The Federal government continued to lose jobs,” the department said in its report. “Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries.”

• Ford CEO Jim Farley is the latest chief executive to warn that AI is poised to decimate white-collar jobs in the United States.

“Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.,” Farley said in a recent interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind.”

• According to the Teamsters, UPS (NYSE:UPS) is planning to offer cash buyouts to full-time delivery workers, a move that would violate its national contract with the union.

“UPS is trying to weasel its way out of creating good union jobs here in America by dangling insulting buyouts in front of Teamsters drivers. It is an illegal violation of our national contract,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, in a statement. “UPS is obligated to establish tens of thousands of new full-time jobs under the agreement.”

The Teamsters added that under the current contract, UPS is legally committed to creating 22,500 more jobs.