U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, forcing all three major indexes to register the largest weekly percentage losses in years, after a weak jobs report kept investors questioning how much the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates in coming weeks.
For the week, the S&P 500 lost 4.25% and the Dow fell 2.93%. Both were their largest weekly percentage losses since March 2023. The Nasdaq declined 5.77% for the week, which was the biggest weekly percentage loss since January 2022.
U.S. employers added a disappointing 142,000 jobs in August, below Bloomberg’s consensus estimate of 163,000 jobs. July was revised down to 89,000, also below estimates. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.2% from July’s 4.3%.
Slowing jobs growth confirms that the economy is weakening, which almost ensures the Fed will cut rates when it concludes its policy meeting on September 18. However, it also may suggest the Fed’s rate cuts may be too late for the…
