Up First briefing: employment report; Trump’s Arch; Public schools; Dhillon: NPR

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Rising prices and stagnant wages fueled frustration in this week’s midterm electionsencouraging voters to express their discontent at the ballot box. Likewise, the stock market experienced a slowdown yesterday. Concerns about a Democratic Congress regulating AI led to a more than 5% drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq, wiping out more than $2 trillion in market value. The decline follows Wednesday, when stocks rose as investors were relieved that the midterm elections had clarified the fate of Congress. On the other hand, the labor market has experienced less volatility and the Ministry of Labor is preparing to publish its latest employment report today.

Stocks have fallen as investors worry that a new Democratic Congress — and states across the country — will crack down on the AI ​​industry and data centers.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

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TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

• 🎧 Today’s jobs report is expected to show that employers added about 60,000 jobs last month, says NPR’s Scott Horsley First. Even if this growth is not robust, it should keep the unemployment rate low. As long as the labor market remains stable, the Federal Reserve can focus on combating stubbornly high inflation, which likely determined the results of recent elections.

Federal judge temporarily blocked construction of President Trump’s 250-foot arch in the capital. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order shortly before midnight Friday, halting work for 14 days at the request of the Washington, D.C. and Virginia governments. In her 33-page opinion, she examined the administration’s justifications for the arch, particularly its emphasis on national security, and acknowledged that local governments risked being harmed by its construction. The arch is planned for Memorial Circle, a traffic island on the bridge connecting the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery.

• 🎧 The judges’ decision follows a controversial meeting last nightin which the National Capital Planning Commission, made up of Trump allies, voted to approve the arch, NPR’s Rachel Treisman said. The commission’s approval came despite significant opposition to the ark from dozens and dozens of people. After almost nine hours, the commission gave the green light, which would have allowed the excavations to begin. Several Democratic lawmakers are already talking about blocking the arch. Democrat Jared Huffman of California, likely to become chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, warned commissioners at yesterday’s meeting that anyone moving forward with projects not authorized by Congress risked legal repercussions.

School enrollment expected to fall by 2 million more children by 2030and education experts say the crisis will be made worse by the expulsion of immigrant families with school-aged children. Even before the Trump administration’s policy changes, public schools were facing significant decline due to declining family sizes. U.S. Census data shows that the number of children under 18 nationwide has declined by about 2.1 million since 2010. The Trump administration’s large-scale expulsions began after public schools began facing a demographic crisis, with a Migration Policy Institute study indicating that 1.9 million people left the United States during Trump’s second term. This marks the first time in nearly a century that birth rates and immigration levels have been simultaneously low.