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Friday’s jobs data was a big sigh of relief for markets.
New York
CNN
—
US stocks soared Friday after new data showed that US job growth slowed considerably last month.
After surging by more than 500 points after the opening bell, the blue-chip Dow closed 450 points higher, or 1.2%; the S&P 500 rose 1.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 2%.
The economy added just 175,000 new jobs in April, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, far below economists’ expectations for 235,000 jobs and the 315,000 jobs added in March. The unemployment rate ticked higher as well, to 3.9% from 3.8% the month before.
While that’s bad news for Main Street, Wall Street celebrated.
That’s because the Federal Reserve is working to slow the economy by hiking interest rates — the only tool it has to fight inflation. A still-robust job market means the central bank could continue to keep rates elevated without fear of sending the economy into a recession. If the…
