The US economy added 172,000 jobs in May. Wall Street had expected somewhere around 80,000 to 85,000. That mismatch between forecast and reality triggered one of the sharpest single-day selloffs in over a year, dragging equities, semiconductors, and crypto down with it.
Money markets now price in a 98% probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike by year-end, up from 60% before the report dropped on June 5. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%. But paired with job creation that doubled expectations, it painted a picture of an economy running hotter than the Fed wants, and investors reacted accordingly.
The damage across major indexes
The Nasdaq bore the brunt, falling 4.18% for its largest one-day percentage loss since April 2025. The S&P 500 shed 2.64%, while the Dow Jones dropped roughly 1.35%, ending what had been a nine-week winning streak.
Semiconductor stocks led the carnage. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index posted its worst single-day percentage decline since March 2020. Chip stocks collectively erased an estimated $1 trillion to $1.3 trillion in market value in a single session.
