The bitter disappointment from the US job market brings sales on Wall Street, albeit contained. The Dow Jones lost 0.3% to 35.33 points, -0.2% for the S&P 500 and -0.1% for the Nasdaq. Among the individual stocks, Big Tech held up well with Apple at -0.03%.
235,000 new jobs were created in the US in August, worse than estimates. Economists interviewed by Bloomberg had predicted the creation of 750,000 new jobs from +943,000 in July. The unemployment rate fell from 5.4% to 5.2%, in line with expectations.
Non-farm payrolls slowed sharply in August as the rise in Covid cases and hospitalizations made consumers and businesses more cautious. “The most positive effect is that the underlying fundamentals are in good shape with companies that they clearly want to hire, but are struggling to find staff. In any case, a September Fed tapering looks unlikely now,” says James Knightley, chief. Ing international economist, who instead sees a good chance of a move in November.