U.S. Stocks Dip As Jobs Report Stirs Rate Worries

U.S. stocks switched between trading flat and slightly lower Friday after the monthly jobs report's headline number topped expectations. The S&P 500 was last down 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,091, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 44 points, or 0.2%, to 17,862. The better-than-expected headline number "would indicate that the Fed is more likely to raise rates sooner rather than later," said State Street Global Advisors' chief investment strategist, Michael Arone, who described the overall report as "solid." He said the stock market "continues to be in love with lower for longer" when it comes to interest rates, but that is somewhat "confounding," as Friday's upbeat jobs report "should in aggregate be a good thing" for both the U.S. economy and the stock market. Both the S&P 500 and Dow are on pace for weekly declines of about 0.8%.