Stock market today: Dow drops 600 on weak jobs data as a global sell-off whips back to Wall Street
Stocks tumbled Friday on worries the U.S. economy could be cracking under the weight of high interest rates meant to whip inflation
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks tumbled Friday on worries the U.S. economy could be cracking under the weight of high interest rates meant to whip inflation.
The S&P 500 sank 1.8% for its first back-to-back losses of at least 1% since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 610 points, or 1.5%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.4% as a sell-off for stocks whipped all the way around the world back to Wall Street.
A report showing hiring by U.S. employers slowed last month by much more than economists expected sent fear through markets, with both stocks and bond yields dropping sharply. It followed a batch of weaker-than-expected reports on the economy from a day earlier, including a worsening for U.S. manufacturing activity, which has been one of the areas hurt most by high rates.
It was just a couple days ago that U.S. stock indexes jumped to their best day in months after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave the clearest indication yet that inflation has slowed enough for cuts to rates to begin in September.
