Markets run on a reflex.
When the economic news looks good, traders go hunting for the reason it is secretly bad
That reflex was on full display Friday. The economy added 172,000 jobs in May, roughly double what economists had expected, and the prior two months were revised up by a combined 93,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% for the month.
Not long ago, a number like that would have been welcomed without hesitation. In the summer of 2026 it landed as a threat. A labor market that refuses to cool, the logic goes, keeps inflation sticky and keeps the Federal Reserve from lowering interest rates.