Stocks close lower Friday after a 'wow' jobs report puts Fed back in play
U.S. stock indexes finished lower on Friday after an unexpectedly...
U.S. stock indexes finished lower on Friday after an unexpectedly strong surge in January nonfarm payrolls reversed the Wall Street's perception that the end of the Fed's rate increases is near. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.38% was off 128 points, or 0.4%, to end at 33,925, while the S&P 500 SPX, -1.04% declined by 1% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.59% dropped 1.6%. For the week, the S&P 500 booked a weekly gain of 1.6%. The Nasdaq rose 3.3%, booking its fifth consecutive weekly advance and the longest winning streak in over a year, thanks to strong earnings from some major tech companies. The Dow industrials erased its earlier gain and slipped 0.3% this week, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The U.S. unemployment rate is now at its lowest level since 1969
The numbers: The number of new jobs created in January rose by 517,000 to mark the biggest...
The numbers: The number of new jobs created in January rose by 517,000 to mark the biggest increase in six months, suggesting little erosion in a dynamic U.S. labor market even though the economy has shown lots of signs of weakening.
One caveat: The government’s formula to adjust for seasonal swings in hiring sometimes exaggerates employment levels in January. It’s unclear whether that was the case last month.
Yet employment grew even faster in the waning months of 2022 than previously reported, indicating the labor market is still quite robust.
The unemployment rate, meanwhile, slid to a 54-year low of 3.4% from 3.5%, the government said Friday. That’s the lowest level since 1969.
It's official: Apple is the only tech giant to avoid major layoffs or cost-cutting around...
It's official: Apple is the only tech giant to avoid major layoffs or cost-cutting around its earnings season. Read the story.
Putin leveled another veiled nuclear threat in relation to the war in Ukraine, as he ripped into Germany for providing tanks to Kyiv. More here.
The US scrambled F-22s following reports of an unidentified flying object over Montana. It is believed to be a Chinese spy balloon. Get the full story.
Frustrated Texans endure another icy winter storm with no power, heat
AUSTIN, Texas — Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in homes without power for a second day Thursday,...
AUSTIN, Texas — Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in homes without power for a second day Thursday, most of them around booming Austin, and fading hopes of a quick fix stirred grim memories of a deadly 2021 blackout after an icy winter storm across the southern U.S.
The freeze has been blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths on slick roads this week in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. And even as Texas finally began thawing Thursday, a new Artic front from Canada was headed toward the northern U.S. and threatening New England with potentially the coldest weather in decades. Wind chills could dive below minus 50.
By Thursday night, Austin officials backtracked on early estimates that power would be fully restored by Friday evening, saying the extent of the damage was worse than originally calculated and that they could no longer predict when all the lights may come back on.
