Jobs report, hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz, used car prices and more in Morning Squawk

Jobs report, hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz, used car prices and more in Morning Squawk


This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.

Happy Friday. There’s a warning for anyone rooting for France in this year’s FIFA World Cup: Artificial intelligence isn’t in your corner.

Stock futures are higher this morning following a down day for all three major averages.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

1. Not-so-happy meal

A sign hangs outside of a Shake Shack location on Feb. 21, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

Shares of several consumer-focused companies cratered yesterday as their earnings reports — and comments about the health of the consumer — spooked Wall Street. Those losses helped drag the S&P 500 off its record highs in Thursday’s session.

Here’s what to know:

2. Hire hopes?

Job seekers attend the Mega JobNewsUSA South Florida Job Fair held in the Amerant Bank Arena on April 30, 2026 in Sunrise, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

April’s jobs report is due out at 8:30 a.m. ET today. Economists polled by Dow Jones predict the data to show that the U.S. economy added 55,000 jobs last month, what would be a big slowdown from March. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.3%.

JPMorgan’s trading desk sees the potential for significant market swings depending on what this morning’s report says. Private payrolls data for March released by ADP earlier this week came in hotter than economists anticipated.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee will join CNBC’s “Money Movers” today at 11 a.m. ET. Watch live on CNBC or CNBC+.

3. Crossfire

Oil/Chemical Tanker “Bald Man” at the Port of Fujairah, as the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran limits marine traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, May 6, 2026.

Amr Alfiky | Reuters

Hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz appeared to reignite yesterday, as the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the strategic shipping route. Each country claimed the other began the attack, which came as Iran reportedly considered a U.S. proposal to end the war.

As CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger notes, the strikes push the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement further into jeopardy. However, President Donald Trump told an ABC News reporter last night that the ceasefire remains in effect, calling the attacks “just a love tap.”

Despite the hostilities in the strait, oil prices are flat this morning. Shell CEO Wael Sawan told investors yesterday that the oil market is short nearly 1 billion barrels — and it could only get worse as the war continues.

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4. Flare out

This photograph taken on January 21, 2026 shows signage of the Cloudflare logo during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. The World Economic Forum takes place in Davos from January 19 to January 23, 2026.

Ina Fassbender | Afp | Getty Images

Shares of Cloudflare are 15% lower before the bell after the cloud firm announced it is cutting more than one-fifth of its workforce yesterday. News of the layoff plans followed Cloudflare’s first-quarter earnings report, which beat expectations on both lines.

In a blog post announcing the cuts, the San Francisco firm said that its internal AI usage increased by over 600% in the last three months as agentic AI “fundamentally changed” the way it works. CEO Matthew Prince also played up the role of agentic AI on the company’s earnings call, telling analysts that some roles “just aren’t the roles that we need for the future.”

5. Slowing down

In an aerial view, pre-owned vehicles are displayed for sale at a Hyundai dealership lot on April 7, 2026 in Austin, Texas.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images

There’s good news for used car shoppers: Prices fell in April for the first time this year. Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index decreased 1.6% month over month, though it was still 1.8% higher than a year ago.

Cox said interest in electric vehicles has increased amid the spike in gas prices. But shoppers may still face some sticker shock: The average listing for a used EV is more than $9,000 higher than the overall market.

Cox chief economist Jeremy Robb said in a press release that higher energy prices “are soaking up a lot of the extra money in consumers’ pockets, and currently there’s no end in sight.”

The Daily Dividend

Here are some stories to circle back to over the weekend:

CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Laya Neelakandan, Amelia Lucas, Yun Li, Jeff Cox, Kevin Breuninger, Spencer Kimball, Lola Murti and Michael Wayland contributed to this report.

Davis Giangiulio assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.

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