May Jobs Report Beats at 172K; Cathie Wood Disputes Market Selloff

On June 6, Cathie Wood pushed back against market reaction to May's stronger-than-expected jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 172,000 versus forecasts of 88,000, while prior months were revised higher by 93,000. The unemployment rate held at 4.3% and wage growth came in at 0.3%. Despite the upbeat numbers, stocks fell as investors worried stronger growth could reignite inflation.

The ARK Invest CEO called the report a "barnburner" on X, arguing markets were misreading the signal. Wood noted that productivity was running near 3% while unit labor costs sat at just 0.5%, which she said "are not the hallmarks of an inflationary boom" but rather "healthy, productivity-driven growth that will lower inflation."