Why it matters: The data sheds granular new information on a much-contested question: What happened to Americans' real incomes during the post-pandemic period? It featured an exceptionally tight job market and the highest inflation in decades, followed by aggressive Fed rate hikes.
President Trump on Friday ordered a new investigation into allegations of mortgage fraud against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, directing a committee to question the central bank official at a White House hearing next month.
Why it matters: Trump is pursuing another path to remove Cook after the Supreme Court blocked his initial attempt earlier this year.
Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, FactSet; Chart: Axios/Matt Phillips; Note: Data center construction includes construction costs, such as labor, materials, profits of contractors, architectural and engineering work and miscellaneous overhead, interest and taxes. Does not include servers, racks, chips or memory.
More and more, it seems as if there's the AI economy — and everything else.
Why it matters: The growing chasm between the breakneck growth of the AI world and the slower pace of the economy where most Americans work and live has huge implications, especially for the markets.
The Trump administration said Thursday that it was suspending Microsoft froma key program used to sponsor employees for green cards. Later that day, the administration honored the tech giant's CEO with a medal for innovation.
Why it matters: The split-screen day highlights the tension between the administration's championing of Big Tech and its immigration policies, which constrain an industry that has long relied on hiring foreign-born workers.
Tech leaders have said that restrictions on hiring hamper the country's ability to compete — especially at a moment when the U.S. is in a race with China on AI.
