The S&P 500 ended lower on Friday as the Labor Department released a less than favorable nonfarm payrolls report. Real estate and utilities proved to be the poorest performers on the index, declining by 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively.
Things were not all doom and gloom for the S&P 500, however, as the energy sector index surged by 3.1% while Chevron and Exxon Mobil rallied more than 2%, providing the index with a much-needed boost.
The Labor Department’s latest job report showed that the U.S. economy created fewer jobs in September than it had in the past nine months. Factors for this bottleneck in job creation include a decline in the hiring of teachers at schools, particularly since many roles had already been filled in previous months as lockdown restrictions were eased.
During September, the national unemployment rate declined by 0.4%, dropping from 5.2% to 4.8%. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.6% since August.
Kathy Lien, Managing Director at BK Asset Management in New York, reflected on the latest job report with the following statement: “I think that the Federal Reserve made it very clear that they don’t need a blockbuster jobs report to taper in November.”
