Stocks add to declines after disappointing jobs report
U.S. stocks dropped Friday after the February jobs report fell well short of Wall Street estimates and worrying economic signals from China weighed on investor sentiment.
The Labor Department reported the U.S. economy added a paltry 20,000 jobs in February, missing the expectation for 180,000 new jobs by a wide margin. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate was essentially unchanged at 63.2 percent.
One bright spot came as the unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent.
Besides watching domestic job creation, U.S. investors noted China's weakening economic health. Exports from the world's second-largest economy dropped the most in three years, while imports fell for a third straight month.
China's February exports fell 20.7 percent from a year earlier, the largest decline since February 2016, customs data showed. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 4.8 percent drop after January's unexpected 9.1 percent jump.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 37978.27 | +202.89 | +0.54% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4978.86 | -32.26 | -0.64% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15344.076144 | -257.42 | -1.65% |
It was another blow to global markets, which fell Thursday after the European Central Bank slashed growth forecasts for the region, and more evidence of a further slowdown in the economy that is hammering equity markets.
U.S.-China trade talks were also being closely watched: Negotiators have been trying to complete a deal so that President trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping can meet to sign it.
Trump postponed a sharp U.S. tariff hike slated for early March as the talks progressed, but both Washington and Beijing have kept previous duties in place.
In other economic news, home building in the U.S. jumped in January, even though mortgages rates rose. The Commerce Department says housing starts rose 18.6 percent in January from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.230 million.
Oil prices extended recent losses, falling to $56.13 and dragging down energy company shares.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBL | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| EOG | EOG RESOURCES INC. | 131.76 | -0.64 | -0.48% |
| DVN | DEVON ENERGY CORP. | 51.43 | -0.24 | -0.46% |
On Saturday, investors will mark the 10-year anniversary of the start of the bull market. Since then the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 289 percent. The S&P 500 is up 306 percent and the Nasdaq Composite has soared 485 percent.
The consumer discretionary sector has gained the most at 582 percent. The top performing stocks since then are Apple (1,353 percent), Boeing (1,263 percent) and UnitedHealth (1,225 percent)
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Chinese stocks sank over 4 percent Friday, in their worst day in five months. China's Shanghai Composite fell 4.4 percent, Hong Kong's hang Seng lost 2 percent and Japan's Nikkei lost 1.5 percent.
In Europe, the major markets closed lower. London’s FTSE traded lower by 0.7 percent, Germany’s DAX is down 0.5 percent and France’s CAC is off 0.7 percent.
FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this report.