Traders on the floor of the NYSE, June 30, 2023.
Source: NYSE
Stocks fell Thursday after better-than-expected jobs data increased investors’ anxiety around the state of the economy and path of interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 450 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 lost 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.4%.
Private sector jobs increased by 497,000 in June, according to data from payroll processing firm ADP, in the biggest monthly gain since July 2022. June’s increase was more than double the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 220,000 gained and far better than the downwardly revised 267,000-job addition seen in May.
The ADP data, which is often unreliable and more volatile than other jobs data, comes ahead of Friday’s official June payrolls report. Economists are expecting 240,000 non-farm payrolls were added last month, a slowing from the 339,000 jobs added in May, according to Dow Jones.
However, traders may now be expecting a hotter number that leads to the Fed resuming its hiking campaign this month after a pause at the June meeting. Traders are pricing in an approximately 92% chance of a hike at the central bank’s meeting later this month, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
“The market clearly would have preferred an in-line number,” said John Lynch, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management. “But because it was more than double expectations, that really ratchets up the fear factor that the Fed would have to be more aggressive.”
On the other hand, job openings fell more than expected in May, according to a Labor Department report. That data can provide hope that the job market may be cooling.
JetBlue Airways tumbled more than 5% after the company announced it would end its partnership in the northeast U.S. with American Airlines to focus on Spirit Airlines. American shares moved more than 2% lower, while Spirit rose slightly.
The shortened trading week resumed Wednesday for a losing session after a break for the Fourth of July holiday. Wall Street combed through minutes from June’s Federal Reserve policy meeting, which showed that most officials would support more increases ahead.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed reporting
