US growth

Trump questions stock market drop after strong report

In a post on his own social media platform Truth Social, Donald Trump questions why the New York stock market is falling, despite an unexpectedly strong jobs report.

"The stock market should be going up, not down. It's been that way for 200 years," the president writes, adding that "growth does not mean inflation."

172,000 new jobs were created in the US in May, which is significantly more than the expected 105,000. The reason the stock market is falling is that the strong labor market is reducing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates on June 17.

More jobs than expected were created in the US in May

Unexpectedly many jobs were created in the US in May, according to the latest report from the Labor Department, American media reports.

Analysts had previously expected 105,000 new jobs, but the result was instead 172,000.

The figure means that the US has achieved a "hat trick" with three straight months above 100,000. It is the first time in two years - and a sign that the Iran war has not spilled over into the labor market.

Continued momentum in the labor market may be a signal to the Federal Reserve that it does not need to rush to raise interest rates, even though inflation is starting to creep up, writes Barron's.

Expert: "Will be a tough start for the new Fed chief"

Friday's unexpectedly strong jobs figure could be a headache for the Federal Reserve's newly minted head Kevin Warsh, writes CNBC.

In just over a week, Warsh will hold his first policy meeting as Fed chief. He will then have to deal with rising inflation and a strong labor market – a situation that has reduced market expectations for a rate cut.

“The debate has quickly shifted from the question of when the Fed can start cutting rates to why the Fed isn’t raising them,” Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21shares, told CNBC.

Warsh has taken office at a time when Donald Trump has called for rate cuts.

“It’s going to be a tough start for Kevin Warsh,” Coltman said.