Stocks fall after cooler-than-expected jobs data

Stocks fell Friday as investors worried that a cooler-than-expected jobs report still isn’t enough to keep the Federal Reserve from continuing to raise interest rates.

All three major indexes are on pace to lose for the week.

The US labor market added just 209,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That’s the lowest monthly gain since a decline in December 2020.

But the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.6% from 3.7%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4%, unchanged from the previous month, suggesting that wage inflation, a major headwind for the Fed in its fight to stabilize prices, remains persistent.

That comes after US private sector businesses added an estimated 497,000 jobs in June, according to payroll processor ADP’s latest National Employment Report, released Thursday.

“Today’s data coupled with the blowout ADP earlier in the week probably locks in the Fed’s case for more tightening,” said Clayton Allison, portfolio manager at Prime Capital Investment Advisors.

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