Strong Job Market Sends Markets Lower

Stocks fell broadly Thursday on Wall Street, and Treasury yields rose after another hot reading on the job market raised worries that the Federal Reserve will need to continue inflicting pain on the economy to fight inflation. The Dow fell 339 points, or 1%, to 32,930; the S&P 500 fell 44 points, or 1.1%, to 3,808; and the Nasdaq fell 153 points, or 1.4%, to 10,305. The pullback came after payroll company ADP reported a bigger-than-expected increase in jobs at private companies last month, per the AP. The continued strength in the job market makes the Fed’s job of reining in inflation more difficult by putting upward pressure on wages.

Technology, health care, and industrial stocks weighed most on the market. Microsoft fell 2.7%, UnitedHealth Group slid 2.4%, and Honeywell International was off 2.6%. Energy stocks bucked the broader market slide as the price of US crude oil settled 1.1% higher. Exxon Mobil rose 2.1%. Inflation has been easing from a peak of 9.1% in June to 7.1% in November, and investors have been hoping for signs that could prompt the Fed to ease up on applying the brakes to the economy with high interest rates. Those hopes have been dashed so far. The government will release its closely watched monthly employment report, for December, on Friday.

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