ASX Runners of the Week: Eclipse, Bryah, Bastion & Codeifai
The updated resource area is restricted to a relatively small portion of rare earths-endowed carbonatite. A 2023 exploration program included trenching and shallow drilling, but was constrained to within 12m of surface.
The company last year laid its hands on 23 drill core samples from six diamond holes hammered into the site in 1950. The holes were drilled to a maximum depth of about 200m by cryolite miner Kryolitselskabet Oresund to test for a potential iron ore deposit.
Laboratory analysis from the core samples returned the impressive numbers, resulting in a gargantuan leap in the mineral resource.
Sitting in geopolitically stable Greenland with deep-water access, Gronnedal sits on a sliver of a massive carbonatite complex, with mineralisation open in all directions expected to stretch well past 500m deep.
Eclipse is gearing up to drill deeper and wider, chasing what could be a globally critical supply of rare earths. That could be particularly significant given the US is chasing new rare earth supplies and Trump's latest musings about snapping up Greenland for its critical mineral deposits.
With clean energy demand surging and only six historic drill holes underpinning the resource, Eclipse's Gronnedal could be the kind of blockbuster that sends shareholders to the moon.
BRYAH RESOURCES (ASX: BYH)
up 240% (0.5c – 1.7c)
Gold explorer Bryah Resources had a tremendous week to come in second on the ASX Runners list. The company stormed the bourse with a cheeky 240 per cent surge in its share price, thanks to a shareholder mutiny to send the boardroom brass walking and bring in new directors to get working on its shiny new Canadian gold project.
The drama kicked off with a section 249D notice from heavyweight shareholder Yu Yonglu, who holds an 11.8 per cent stake or 102 million shares in the company. Yu launched a strike to oust directors Leslie Ingraham and Ian Stuart on Monday, proposing seasoned minerals veterans Nicholas Katris and Bishoy Habib steer the ship.
Katris and Habib are the golden boys behind Trigg Minerals, an ASX antimony darling whose shares ran from 0.5c to 10.25c in under a year.
Surprisingly, Bryah's share price leapt a massive 200 per cent at the start of the week, on an impressive 72.8M shares traded, to close at 1.5c by Tuesday afternoon. A massive 85.3M shares were traded on Wednesday, pushing the share price to a peak for the week of 1.7c and a tremendous 240 per cent gain over two days.
Fuel was added to the fire in the form of Bryah's acquisition last month of the Golden Pike project in New Brunswick, Canada, which has a foreign resource of 214,800 tonnes at an impressive 9.6 grams per tonne (g/t) for 66,300 ounces gold. The project features some stonking historic bonanza intercepts, such as 13 metres at 43.07g/t and 10m grading a little over an ounce per tonne gold.
The company says plenty of upside remains at the project with untested boulders assaying up to 244g/t gold. Golden Pike now looks like a priority target for a first drilling campaign.
As gold prices continue to push all-time highs, Golden Pike looks ready for the shovel in a mining-friendly region with top-notch infrastructure, potentially positioning Bryah for a company-making discovery.
Yu's boardroom coup appears to have been popular, with shareholders sipping champagne on the thought the two Trigg poster boys might soon be in their corner.
Up 167% (0.15c to 0.4c)
Bastion Minerals burst from the blocks as a late runner this morning to secure third place in this week's list.
After closing at 0.15c on Thursday, the company's shares opened at 0.2c and sprinted to 0.4c on massive volumes, exceeding 200M shares traded by noon.
Bastion has seen its daily share volumes swing wildly during the year, ranging from one share up to 55.7M shares traded in a day. Friday's volumes appear to surpass any previous frenzied trading levels in the stock.
The company recently appointed a new leadership team to review all its existing projects. It also plans to acquire some early-stage Australian gold projects.
All the new non-executive directors will assume hands-on roles in the absence of a management team and look to immediately kick goals for shareholders by focusing on projects with a traditional exploration earn-in model.
Bastion previously reported on a non-JORC resource at its ICE copper-gold project within Canada's Yukon Territory. The resource stands at 4.56Mt grading 1.48 per cent copper and has significant gold credits, estimated at 0.15g/t to 0.85g/t.
Late last month, the company said it anticipated receipt of a commissioned report for a JORC mineral resource estimate for ICE, which could have been a catalyst for today's price action.
The company went into a trading halt mid-afternoon Friday, which will last until a response to an ASX price query and an announcement on the release date for the company's maiden JORC resource for the ICE project.
CODEIFAI LIMITED (ASX: CDE)
Up 120% (1c – 2.2c)
Coming in fourth place for the week is brand solutions technology group Codeifai Ltd, which on Tuesday morning revealed news of a $570,000 share placement to professional and sophisticated investors.
Like a footballer crumbling to the turf one hour after receiving a bone-jarring bump, the share price and trading volumes initially showed little response. A delayed reaction kicked in on Wednesday with volumes jumping to 7.5M shares traded for the day, accompanied by a 100 per cent surge in Codeifai's share price.
The shares ran again on Thursday, driven by almost 6M traded shares, touching a weekly high of 2.2c a share for a tasty 120 per cent gain for the week.
Codeifai recently pivoted to become a brand solutions specialist that develops and sells digital solutions using QR code technology through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings ConnectQR and ProtectCode.
The company says its Connect QR with AI-generated QR codes can produce revenue 24/7 and its ProtectCode solution, integrated with its own cloud-based platform, provides unique QR codes for each product to ensure authenticity. It has already generated millions of codes.
QR codes are used for payment gateways, and the beauty of its SaaS offering is its ability to generate 24/7 customer signups.
Codeifai was also hit with a speeding ticket from the ASX constabulary late Thursday and went into a trading halt, pending its response to the price and volume surge.
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Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Nationals Leader David Littleproud demand Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rules out kowtowing on US beef imports
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese 'needs to' immediately rule out kowtowing to Donald Trump on biosecurity laws on US beef imports, Nationals Leader David Littleproud has demanded. Government officials reportedly told The Sydney Morning Herald that Australia could alter its biosecurity laws to allow US beef exports without risks to local industry, in a move to appease Trump as he wages his trade war. Australia banned US beef in 2003 after a mad cow disease outbreak before undoing this in 2019 when the outbreak subsided. Cattle raised in Mexico and Canada but slaughtered in the US is still banned, however, this could be changed according to the report. Mr Littleproud raised concerns about Australia's cattle industry on Friday and urged the Prime Minister not to use the sector as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the US President. 'There needs to be certainty. The Prime Minister needs to rule it out immediately,' the Nationals Leader said on Sky News. 'He needs to make sure that he's very clear with Australian producers that our biosecurity standards will not be reduced and that … if we want to get imports that originated from Mexico or Canada, that there's some traceability on it like Australian producers have.' He called for the Prime Minister to be transparent with Australian beef producers as concerns fester about the nation's biosecurity following this report. 'I don't think Australian producers are asking for anything unfair here, they're just trying to protect their production systems, making sure that they can not only feed Australians but feed the world,' Mr Littleproud said. 'The Prime Minister and his department who are mooting these things need to be very, very clear with Australian beef producers that it's not on the table and it won't be on the table at all. 'But when you start getting these reports - you don't start seeing these reports unless there's smoke and when there's smoke, there's fire.' Australia exports more than $4b of beef to the US annually, making it the largest market for Aussie beef exports behind China. After Trump revealed his sweeping tariffs and invited impacted nations to negotiate, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to protect the nation's biosecurity laws, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and news publishers against tech giants. 'We will not weaken the measures that protect our farmers and producers from the risks of disease or contamination,' he said in a statement. Cattle Australia chief executive Chris Parker issued a statement highlighting the importance of traceability for foreign-produced beef. 'Our position is that the US needs to be able to demonstrate it can either trace cattle born in Mexico and Canada, or has systems that are equivalent to Australia's traceability, before imports of meat could occur from non-US cattle,' Mr Parker said. 'Cattle Australia is in ongoing communication with the Federal Government regarding this issue and the vital importance that our science-based biosecurity system is not compromised as part of trade discussions with any country.' Mr Albanese is expected to have a meeting with Trump either on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada or in the US later in June where the Prime Minister will make Australia's case for tariff exemptions. Australia faces 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium alongside a broad 10 per cent levy on all goods, which is still paused by the Trump Administration.
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Trump not interested in Musk talks after bill feud
US President Donald Trump is not interested in talking with his former ally Elon Musk, amid a bitter feud over the president's sweeping tax-cut bill, a White House official said, adding that no phone call between the two men is planned for the day. A separate White House official had said earlier that Trump and Musk were going to talk to each other on Friday. "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem, the poor guy's got a problem," Trump told CNN on Friday morning. Trump, the world's most powerful leader, and Musk, the world's richest man, battled openly on Thursday in an extraordinary day of hostilities - largely over social media - that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Shares in Musk's Tesla rose 4.5 per cent when markets opened on Friday. In Thursday's session, the stock dived 14 per cent and lost about $150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the electric vehicle maker's history. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought to the White House to head up a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. The falling-out began brewing days ago when Musk, who left his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency a week ago, denounced Trump's tax-cut and spending bill. The feud is complicating efforts to pass the bill, which is the president's main demand of the Republican-controlled Congress. Musk has denounced the package, which contains most of Trump's domestic priorities, as a "disgusting abomination" that would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. The package narrowly passed the House of Representatives last month and is now before the Senate, where Republicans say they will make further changes. Nonpartisan analysts say it would add $2.4 trillion in debt over 10 years. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has been in touch with Musk. "I don't argue with him about how to build rockets and I wish he wouldn't argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it," he said on CNBC. Trump had initially stayed quiet while Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, but broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was "very disappointed" in Musk. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," he said. The pair then traded barbs on their social media platforms: Trump's Truth Social and Musk's X. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million backing Trump and other Republicans in last year's election. Musk also asserted that Trump's signature import tariffs would push the US into a recession and responded "Yes" to a post on X saying Trump should be impeached. That would be highly unlikely given Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress. Trump, for his part, suggested he would terminate government contracts with Musk's businesses, which include rocket company SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. Musk, whose space business plays a critical role in the US government's space program, responded that he would begin decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which is the only US spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. He backed off the threat later in the day. Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending, and on Tuesday he called for "all politicians who betrayed the American people" to be fired next year. His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided. with AP US President Donald Trump is not interested in talking with his former ally Elon Musk, amid a bitter feud over the president's sweeping tax-cut bill, a White House official said, adding that no phone call between the two men is planned for the day. A separate White House official had said earlier that Trump and Musk were going to talk to each other on Friday. "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem, the poor guy's got a problem," Trump told CNN on Friday morning. Trump, the world's most powerful leader, and Musk, the world's richest man, battled openly on Thursday in an extraordinary day of hostilities - largely over social media - that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Shares in Musk's Tesla rose 4.5 per cent when markets opened on Friday. In Thursday's session, the stock dived 14 per cent and lost about $150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the electric vehicle maker's history. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought to the White House to head up a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. The falling-out began brewing days ago when Musk, who left his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency a week ago, denounced Trump's tax-cut and spending bill. The feud is complicating efforts to pass the bill, which is the president's main demand of the Republican-controlled Congress. Musk has denounced the package, which contains most of Trump's domestic priorities, as a "disgusting abomination" that would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. The package narrowly passed the House of Representatives last month and is now before the Senate, where Republicans say they will make further changes. Nonpartisan analysts say it would add $2.4 trillion in debt over 10 years. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has been in touch with Musk. "I don't argue with him about how to build rockets and I wish he wouldn't argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it," he said on CNBC. Trump had initially stayed quiet while Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, but broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was "very disappointed" in Musk. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," he said. The pair then traded barbs on their social media platforms: Trump's Truth Social and Musk's X. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million backing Trump and other Republicans in last year's election. Musk also asserted that Trump's signature import tariffs would push the US into a recession and responded "Yes" to a post on X saying Trump should be impeached. That would be highly unlikely given Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress. Trump, for his part, suggested he would terminate government contracts with Musk's businesses, which include rocket company SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. Musk, whose space business plays a critical role in the US government's space program, responded that he would begin decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which is the only US spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. He backed off the threat later in the day. Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending, and on Tuesday he called for "all politicians who betrayed the American people" to be fired next year. His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided. with AP US President Donald Trump is not interested in talking with his former ally Elon Musk, amid a bitter feud over the president's sweeping tax-cut bill, a White House official said, adding that no phone call between the two men is planned for the day. A separate White House official had said earlier that Trump and Musk were going to talk to each other on Friday. "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem, the poor guy's got a problem," Trump told CNN on Friday morning. Trump, the world's most powerful leader, and Musk, the world's richest man, battled openly on Thursday in an extraordinary day of hostilities - largely over social media - that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Shares in Musk's Tesla rose 4.5 per cent when markets opened on Friday. In Thursday's session, the stock dived 14 per cent and lost about $150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the electric vehicle maker's history. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought to the White House to head up a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. The falling-out began brewing days ago when Musk, who left his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency a week ago, denounced Trump's tax-cut and spending bill. The feud is complicating efforts to pass the bill, which is the president's main demand of the Republican-controlled Congress. Musk has denounced the package, which contains most of Trump's domestic priorities, as a "disgusting abomination" that would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. The package narrowly passed the House of Representatives last month and is now before the Senate, where Republicans say they will make further changes. Nonpartisan analysts say it would add $2.4 trillion in debt over 10 years. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has been in touch with Musk. "I don't argue with him about how to build rockets and I wish he wouldn't argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it," he said on CNBC. Trump had initially stayed quiet while Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, but broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was "very disappointed" in Musk. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," he said. The pair then traded barbs on their social media platforms: Trump's Truth Social and Musk's X. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million backing Trump and other Republicans in last year's election. Musk also asserted that Trump's signature import tariffs would push the US into a recession and responded "Yes" to a post on X saying Trump should be impeached. That would be highly unlikely given Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress. Trump, for his part, suggested he would terminate government contracts with Musk's businesses, which include rocket company SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. Musk, whose space business plays a critical role in the US government's space program, responded that he would begin decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which is the only US spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. He backed off the threat later in the day. Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending, and on Tuesday he called for "all politicians who betrayed the American people" to be fired next year. His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided. with AP US President Donald Trump is not interested in talking with his former ally Elon Musk, amid a bitter feud over the president's sweeping tax-cut bill, a White House official said, adding that no phone call between the two men is planned for the day. A separate White House official had said earlier that Trump and Musk were going to talk to each other on Friday. "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem, the poor guy's got a problem," Trump told CNN on Friday morning. Trump, the world's most powerful leader, and Musk, the world's richest man, battled openly on Thursday in an extraordinary day of hostilities - largely over social media - that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Shares in Musk's Tesla rose 4.5 per cent when markets opened on Friday. In Thursday's session, the stock dived 14 per cent and lost about $150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the electric vehicle maker's history. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought to the White House to head up a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. The falling-out began brewing days ago when Musk, who left his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency a week ago, denounced Trump's tax-cut and spending bill. The feud is complicating efforts to pass the bill, which is the president's main demand of the Republican-controlled Congress. Musk has denounced the package, which contains most of Trump's domestic priorities, as a "disgusting abomination" that would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. The package narrowly passed the House of Representatives last month and is now before the Senate, where Republicans say they will make further changes. Nonpartisan analysts say it would add $2.4 trillion in debt over 10 years. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has been in touch with Musk. "I don't argue with him about how to build rockets and I wish he wouldn't argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it," he said on CNBC. Trump had initially stayed quiet while Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, but broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was "very disappointed" in Musk. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," he said. The pair then traded barbs on their social media platforms: Trump's Truth Social and Musk's X. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million backing Trump and other Republicans in last year's election. Musk also asserted that Trump's signature import tariffs would push the US into a recession and responded "Yes" to a post on X saying Trump should be impeached. That would be highly unlikely given Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress. Trump, for his part, suggested he would terminate government contracts with Musk's businesses, which include rocket company SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. Musk, whose space business plays a critical role in the US government's space program, responded that he would begin decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which is the only US spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. He backed off the threat later in the day. Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending, and on Tuesday he called for "all politicians who betrayed the American people" to be fired next year. His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided. with AP
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
US job growth cools in May amid tariff woes
US job growth slowed in May amid uncertainty about the Trump administration's import tariffs, but solid wage growth should keep the economic expansion on track and potentially allow the Federal Reserve to delay resuming its interest rate cuts. The ebbing labour market momentum reported by the Labor Department on Friday was underscored by sharp downward revisions that showed 95,000 fewer jobs were added in March and April than previously estimated over the two month period. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 per cent for the third consecutive month because 625,000 people dropped out of the labour force, suggesting a lack of confidence in the jobs market and offsetting a decline in household employment. Recent surveys have pointed to consumers becoming less optimistic about their prospects of finding a job in the event of being laid off. Economists say President Donald Trump's flip-flopping on import tariffs has hampered businesses' ability to plan ahead and hire more workers. Opposition to Trump's tax-cut and spending bill from conservative Republicans in the US Senate and tech billionaire Elon Musk has added another layer of uncertainty for companies. "The Labour market continues to slow steadily, but the sky is not falling," said Olu Sonola, head of US economic research at Fitch Ratings. "Given the backdrop of trade policy uncertainties, the Fed will be relieved with this report. The tariff landscape is still very uncertain." Nonfarm payrolls increased by 139,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised rise of 147,000 in April, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the survey of establishments to show 130,000 jobs added after a previously reported rise of 177,000 in April. The payrolls count for March was slashed by 65,000 to 120,000. The economy needs to create roughly 100,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. That number could drop as Trump has revoked the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants as part of his administration's immigration crackdown. Much of the job growth this year reflects worker hoarding by businesses, anchoring the labour market and economy through higher wages. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4 per cent after gaining 0.2 per cent in April. In the 12 months through May, wages rose 3.9 per cent, matching April's advance. US stocks opened higher. The dollar gained against a basket of currencies. US Treasury yields rose. Employers' reluctance to lay off workers could keep the US central bank on the sidelines until the end of the year. Financial markets expect the Fed will leave its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25-4.50 per cent range at a policy meeting later this month, before resuming its policy easing in September. US job growth slowed in May amid uncertainty about the Trump administration's import tariffs, but solid wage growth should keep the economic expansion on track and potentially allow the Federal Reserve to delay resuming its interest rate cuts. The ebbing labour market momentum reported by the Labor Department on Friday was underscored by sharp downward revisions that showed 95,000 fewer jobs were added in March and April than previously estimated over the two month period. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 per cent for the third consecutive month because 625,000 people dropped out of the labour force, suggesting a lack of confidence in the jobs market and offsetting a decline in household employment. Recent surveys have pointed to consumers becoming less optimistic about their prospects of finding a job in the event of being laid off. Economists say President Donald Trump's flip-flopping on import tariffs has hampered businesses' ability to plan ahead and hire more workers. Opposition to Trump's tax-cut and spending bill from conservative Republicans in the US Senate and tech billionaire Elon Musk has added another layer of uncertainty for companies. "The Labour market continues to slow steadily, but the sky is not falling," said Olu Sonola, head of US economic research at Fitch Ratings. "Given the backdrop of trade policy uncertainties, the Fed will be relieved with this report. The tariff landscape is still very uncertain." Nonfarm payrolls increased by 139,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised rise of 147,000 in April, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the survey of establishments to show 130,000 jobs added after a previously reported rise of 177,000 in April. The payrolls count for March was slashed by 65,000 to 120,000. The economy needs to create roughly 100,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. That number could drop as Trump has revoked the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants as part of his administration's immigration crackdown. Much of the job growth this year reflects worker hoarding by businesses, anchoring the labour market and economy through higher wages. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4 per cent after gaining 0.2 per cent in April. In the 12 months through May, wages rose 3.9 per cent, matching April's advance. US stocks opened higher. The dollar gained against a basket of currencies. US Treasury yields rose. Employers' reluctance to lay off workers could keep the US central bank on the sidelines until the end of the year. Financial markets expect the Fed will leave its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25-4.50 per cent range at a policy meeting later this month, before resuming its policy easing in September. US job growth slowed in May amid uncertainty about the Trump administration's import tariffs, but solid wage growth should keep the economic expansion on track and potentially allow the Federal Reserve to delay resuming its interest rate cuts. The ebbing labour market momentum reported by the Labor Department on Friday was underscored by sharp downward revisions that showed 95,000 fewer jobs were added in March and April than previously estimated over the two month period. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 per cent for the third consecutive month because 625,000 people dropped out of the labour force, suggesting a lack of confidence in the jobs market and offsetting a decline in household employment. Recent surveys have pointed to consumers becoming less optimistic about their prospects of finding a job in the event of being laid off. Economists say President Donald Trump's flip-flopping on import tariffs has hampered businesses' ability to plan ahead and hire more workers. Opposition to Trump's tax-cut and spending bill from conservative Republicans in the US Senate and tech billionaire Elon Musk has added another layer of uncertainty for companies. "The Labour market continues to slow steadily, but the sky is not falling," said Olu Sonola, head of US economic research at Fitch Ratings. "Given the backdrop of trade policy uncertainties, the Fed will be relieved with this report. The tariff landscape is still very uncertain." Nonfarm payrolls increased by 139,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised rise of 147,000 in April, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the survey of establishments to show 130,000 jobs added after a previously reported rise of 177,000 in April. The payrolls count for March was slashed by 65,000 to 120,000. The economy needs to create roughly 100,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. That number could drop as Trump has revoked the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants as part of his administration's immigration crackdown. Much of the job growth this year reflects worker hoarding by businesses, anchoring the labour market and economy through higher wages. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4 per cent after gaining 0.2 per cent in April. In the 12 months through May, wages rose 3.9 per cent, matching April's advance. US stocks opened higher. The dollar gained against a basket of currencies. US Treasury yields rose. Employers' reluctance to lay off workers could keep the US central bank on the sidelines until the end of the year. Financial markets expect the Fed will leave its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25-4.50 per cent range at a policy meeting later this month, before resuming its policy easing in September. US job growth slowed in May amid uncertainty about the Trump administration's import tariffs, but solid wage growth should keep the economic expansion on track and potentially allow the Federal Reserve to delay resuming its interest rate cuts. The ebbing labour market momentum reported by the Labor Department on Friday was underscored by sharp downward revisions that showed 95,000 fewer jobs were added in March and April than previously estimated over the two month period. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 per cent for the third consecutive month because 625,000 people dropped out of the labour force, suggesting a lack of confidence in the jobs market and offsetting a decline in household employment. Recent surveys have pointed to consumers becoming less optimistic about their prospects of finding a job in the event of being laid off. Economists say President Donald Trump's flip-flopping on import tariffs has hampered businesses' ability to plan ahead and hire more workers. Opposition to Trump's tax-cut and spending bill from conservative Republicans in the US Senate and tech billionaire Elon Musk has added another layer of uncertainty for companies. "The Labour market continues to slow steadily, but the sky is not falling," said Olu Sonola, head of US economic research at Fitch Ratings. "Given the backdrop of trade policy uncertainties, the Fed will be relieved with this report. The tariff landscape is still very uncertain." Nonfarm payrolls increased by 139,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised rise of 147,000 in April, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the survey of establishments to show 130,000 jobs added after a previously reported rise of 177,000 in April. The payrolls count for March was slashed by 65,000 to 120,000. The economy needs to create roughly 100,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. That number could drop as Trump has revoked the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants as part of his administration's immigration crackdown. Much of the job growth this year reflects worker hoarding by businesses, anchoring the labour market and economy through higher wages. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4 per cent after gaining 0.2 per cent in April. In the 12 months through May, wages rose 3.9 per cent, matching April's advance. US stocks opened higher. The dollar gained against a basket of currencies. US Treasury yields rose. Employers' reluctance to lay off workers could keep the US central bank on the sidelines until the end of the year. Financial markets expect the Fed will leave its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25-4.50 per cent range at a policy meeting later this month, before resuming its policy easing in September.
