May Jobs Report Exceeds Expectations, Sparking Wall Street Concerns
By
Justin Wolfers
Lightly toasted, lightly seasoned, mostly correct.
Summary
The May jobs report showed strong job growth (172,000 jobs added, double expectations) with three consecutive months averaging 188,000. The author, an empiricist, pushes back against skepticism from liberal friends who doubt the data's validity, arguing that the numbers should be read honestly. The piece previews a deeper discussion on the Prof G Markets podcast with Ed Elson.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThe May jobs report was, frankly, really good news—172,000 jobs added, more than double what forecasters expected
I'm an empiricist, and my job is to read the data as honestly as possible
There's no gain in pretending strong numbers are weak, or fake, or anything else
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