Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on the day of Circle Internet Group’s IPO, in New York City, U.S., June 5, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stocks jumped Friday after the latest nonfarm payrolls data came in better than expected, easing concern the economy faces an imminent slowdown.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 373 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 gained 0.9% — touching the 6,000 level for the first time since late February — and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.2%.
The market’s move higher was supported by a more than 5% gain in Tesla. Shares of the electric vehicle maker weighed on the market Thursday, tumbling 14%, as CEO Elon Musk sparred with President Donald Trump on social media. Other major tech-related names such as Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Apple also traded higher on the day.
Those gains came after U.S. payrolls climbed 139,000 in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, above the Dow Jones forecast of 125,000 for the month but less than the downwardly revised 147,000 in April. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%.
“Today’s jobs report will not be viewed as a call to action for the Fed to cut rates,” said Eric Merlis, managing director and co-head of global markets at Citizens. “The unemployment rate remained unchanged and, while other measures are pointing to a softer labor picture, the demand for workers remains stable as businesses adjust to policy shifts.”
A series of data released earlier this week signaled a possible economic slowdown, raising questions about the impact of the multi-front tariff negotiations and the next steps for the Federal Reserve, which next meets to set interest rate policy on June 17-18.
On Thursday, unemployment claims for last week’s period came in higher than expected. That came a day after ADP reported that private sector payrolls saw a gain of just 37,000 in May, which substantially missed the Dow Jones estimate for 110,000. Activity in the U.S. services sector also weakened unexpectedly last month.
The major indexes are on pace for meaningful gains for the week. The S&P 500 and Dow are up nearly 2% and 1.5%, respectively, week to date, while the Nasdaq Composite is up more than 2%.
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