US markets settle lower after weak job data

09 Oct 2021 Evaluate

Snapping three-day winning streak, US markets settled lower on Friday after the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report showed much weaker than expected job growth in the month of September. The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 194,000 jobs in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 366,000 jobs in August. Street had expected employment to jump by 500,000 jobs compared to the addition of 235,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. Despite the much weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate fell to 4.8 percent in September from 5.2 percent in August. The unemployment rate was expected to edge down to 5.1 percent.

With the bigger than expected decrease, the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since hitting 4.4 percent in March of 2020. However, the drop in the employment rate was partly due to a decrease in the size of the labor force, reflecting lingering labor supply constraints. The data led to some uncertainty about the outlook for monetary policy, although most economists agree the disappointing job growth will not dissuade the Federal Reserve from scaling back stimulus.

On the sectoral front, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets. Energy stocks saw significant strength, however, with a sharp increase by the price of crude oil contributing to the strength in the sector. Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surged up by 2.7 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. Transportation and banking stocks also saw some strength on the day, while telecom and commercial real estate stocks moved to the downside.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 8.69 points or 0.03 percent to 34,746.25, Nasdaq fell 74.48 points or 0.51 percent to 14,579.54 and S&P 500 was down by 8.42 points or 0.19 percent to 4,391.34.

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