US stocks plummeted Friday as the June jobs report came in above expectations, paving the way for more aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
Nonfarm payrolls soared 372,000 for June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, well above Dow Jones’ estimate of 250,000 and carrying on this year’s trend of strong job growth.
“While many participants were looking for a broader slowdown in hiring last month, the reality is the demand for labor remains strong, and absent a meaningful decline in hiring, it is hard to envision the economy is on the brink of recession,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management. “Overall, today’s report simply means the Fed still has more work to do with regards to policy rates to cool demand in the economy, and a 75 basis point rate hike is almost a certainty at this point.”
The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up roughly 4.4% on the week, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up about 0.92%, with both indexes are on track for their second positive week out of the last three.
