Goldman Sachs former partner warns: US stock valuations are too perfect, and signs of weakness are emerging in the job market.

Former Goldman Sachs partner and current professor at Columbia Business School, Abby Joseph Cohen, said that the current high valuation of US stocks may be masking the real risks that investors should be paying attention to, especially the signs of weakness in the US job market. In an interview on Friday, Cohen mentioned that the current market valuation reflects that investors almost think "everything is perfect." She said, "When asset prices are already close to perfect pricing, investors should be even more vigilant." Cohen believes that the US economy is currently at a critical turning point, with particular attention to the job market. She pointed out that corporate profitability, balance sheets, and economic fundamentals are always the most important factors supporting the market, and measuring economic strength should not only look at US GDP and industrial output, but also pay attention to job growth. Cohen said, "The jobs we are creating at the moment are not enough." The May US non-farm payroll report showed signs of stabilization in the job market in multiple industries. Previously, the 2025 US job growth recorded one of the weakest annual performances in decades, except during economic recessions. The market is currently waiting for the June non-farm payroll data, which will be released on July 2, to further assess the trend of the labor market. Cohen's warning comes at a time when global stock markets are experiencing a period of intense volatility. Earlier this week, with investors concerned about the rapid rise in stock prices, global stock markets experienced a pullback, and the optimism that had led to the continuous rise of risk assets in the past two months has cooled down. The previously impressive semiconductor sector became a hard-hit area in this round of adjustment, with the stock prices of several chip companies that had accumulated three-digit gains this year falling significantly. Cohen believes that with market valuations already at high levels, investors should not only focus on stock price performance, but also closely monitor leading indicators reflecting economic fundamentals such as the job market, to assess whether the current bull market has sustainability.