Stock Market Soars as AI Puts Americans Out of Work

A chart making the rounds online claims to show how artificial intelligence has fractured the U.S. economy — fueling investor gains while leaving workers behind.

It’s being called “the scariest chart in the world,” as economics author Derek Thompson writes on Substack.

The data check out. Since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022, job postings have dropped roughly 33%, and the S&P 500 has jumped more than 75%. For most of the last two decades, those two trends moved together. This time, they’re heading in opposite directions.

Source: Federal Reserve Economic Data

But is it really proof that AI is gutting jobs? Not exactly.

The timing suggests something else is at play. Job openings didn’t start falling when AI took off — they peaked in March 2022, the same month the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates.

Those rate hikes were designed to cool inflation by slowing demand and investment, which inevitably hit hiring. Trade tariffs and tighter immigration policies have also made it harder and costlier for companies to find workers.

So while the labor market is softening, the main cause looks like Fed policy, not ChatGPT.

If artificial intelligence were really the culprit, the tech sector should show the sharpest drop in openings. It doesn’t. According to new data from Employ America, the “Information” sector — which includes software and AI roles — has seen the smallest decline.

The steepest job losses are in manufacturing, construction, and energy — industries most exposed to tariffs and high borrowing costs.

At the same time, Wall Street can’t get enough of AI — and may be in a bubble. JP Morgan reports that AI-related companies account for 75% of S&P 500 gains and 80% of profit growth since late 2022.

That level of concentration is unusual and may not last. For now, big tech firms are pouring cash into chips, data centers, and energy — spending on machines instead of new hires.

The chart making headlines is striking, but it tells a more complicated story. The labor market’s slowdown stems from high interest rates and policy shifts, while the stock boom reflects investor euphoria over AI.

It’s not that robots are destroying jobs overnight. It’s that America’s economy is moving on two very different tracks — one powered by human caution, the other by technological ambition.