The Job Market Stalls, Google to Spend $185B on AI & Gemini Blows Past 750M Users!

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Dear Money Master,

January’s jobs report landed with a thud. Hiring barely moved, payroll growth missed expectations, and health care once again carried the load. It is not a collapse, but it is not growth either.

At the same time, tech stocks are under pressure as new AI tools raise real questions about whether expensive software is still necessary. We break down what is actually happening beneath the headlines.

Meanwhile, Google sent a very different signal. Gemini now has over 750 million monthly users, and Alphabet plans to spend up to $185 billion building AI infrastructure next year.

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📰 Your Daily Financial Digest - February 5th, 2026

🌍 Economics:

U.S. Job Market Stalls at Start of 2026💼- Read More

Hiring barely moved in January. Private companies added just 22,000 jobs, far below expectations. Nearly all of the gains came from education and healthcare, while professional services and manufacturing cut workers. Wage growth stayed steady at 4.5%.

This isn’t about weak jobs, it’s about hesitation. Hiring is a long-term cost, and businesses are choosing to wait. Outside healthcare, job growth disappears, and large companies quietly cut 18,000 roles while mid-sized firms did the hiring.

That mix matters because it cools the economy without breaking it. Slower hiring reduces inflation pressure and gives the Fed room to maneuver, but if this caution spreads, it’s often the first signal that growth is running out of steam.

💻 Technology:

AI Just Questioned the Software Business Model 🤖 - Read More 

Something important is happening in tech, and it has nothing to do with earnings. It is about whether traditional software is still necessary.

This week, Anthropic released new AI tools that can handle professional tasks like research, analytics, and customer management. These are the same functions many software companies sell through expensive subscriptions.

That creates a real business risk. If AI can perform these jobs directly, companies may question why they are paying for multiple software tools at all.

This matters because software companies make money by owning workflows and charging recurring fees. If AI weakens that grip, pricing power and profit margins come under pressure.

Some argue this fear is overdone and that AI will enhance existing software rather than replace it. Either way, this is a moment to watch closely. The winners will be the companies that prove they still have a reason to exist when smarter tools get cheaper.

💹Earnings:

Alphabet Just Printed Cash And Then Promised to Spend It All on AI!💰- Read More

Alphabet delivered a strong quarter. Revenue reached $113.8 billion, profits jumped nearly 30% from last year, and Google Cloud revenue surged almost 48%. Results came in above what analysts were expecting across the board.

Advertising is still the cash engine, bringing in $82 billion during the quarter. But Cloud is where future growth is forming. Customers have already committed $240 billion in future cloud spending, which means revenue that is effectively pre booked as demand for AI continues to rise.

The key concept here is capital expenditures. Capex is money a company spends to build future capacity like data centers, chips, and infrastructure rather than keeping it as profit. Alphabet expects to spend as much as $185 billion in 2026, more than double last year, largely to support AI and cloud growth.

This matters because it shows how confident Alphabet is in its long term strategy. The company is choosing to reinvest today’s cash to secure tomorrow’s dominance, knowing the payoff will take time.

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To your financial empowerment, The Money Masters Team

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DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The publisher does not accept any responsibility for any losses incurred as a result of actions taken based on the information provided. Always conduct your own research or consult with a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.