Why The Stock Market Hated May’s Strong Jobs Report | Off the Clock
6/6/202651 min
In this episode of Off the Clock, Justin unwinds the week’s economic news with his friend, Stacey Vanek Smith—senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek and cohost of the Everybody’s Business podcast. The goal of this series is to help you understand what to actually be concerned about, what you can safely ignore, and where there’s room for a bit of hope.
They dig into May’s better-than-expected jobs report, the stock market’s confusing reaction, and the recent concert cancellations for Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration. Justin argues there’s an economic story here—especially when you compare the rational choices of these artists to the tech industry’s relentless political brown-nosing.
Then—in a new segment—Justin and Stacey take a step back from the grind of a daily news cycle to appreciate larger economic trends that give us much more fodder for optimism. First up—inflation (yes, really!).
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Editor’s Note: In this conversation, we mistakenly refer to Freedom 250 as America250. America250 is a bipartisan initiative established by Congress in 2016 to commemorate America’s 250th birthday. Freedom 250 is a separate, public-private initiative established by the Trump administration via executive order earlier this year.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsStacey Vanek Smith· Guest0:00
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Speaker 20:03
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Justin Wolfers· Host0:19
It just came out. Jeremy, what did you just do? You just set yourself up for failure.
MC Jin· Soundbite0:23
I've never heard you tell this story.
Justin Wolfers· Host0:25
I've never told this story.
MC Jin· Soundbite0:26
This must have been tucked deep, deep in the Jeremy Lin file. [upbeat music] My name is MC Jin, excited to tell you about Laugh But Not Least. I'll be chatting with guests from all walks of life about the power of humor when it comes to facing difficult times. These will be conversations that remind us all life is hard, laugh harder. Listen to Laugh But Not Least with MC Jin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Justin Wolfers· Host0:50
The work week may be over, but the economy, it never really takes time off. I'm Justin Wolfers, and I want to welcome you to Off the Clock, the show where we're gonna unwind the week's economic news, and I am joined again by my favorite economics journalist in the whole wide world, Stacey Vanek Smith.
Stacey Vanek Smith· Guest1:11
I am overwhelmed by this honor, Justin. Thank you. Uh, I'm very happy to be here. I am a, uh, columnist for Bloomberg Businessweek and co-host of their podcast, Everybody's Business, and thrilled, as always, to talk economics with you, Justin.
Justin Wolfers· Host1:24
Mate, highlight of my week. Um, so as always, our [laughs] job is gonna