Weak September Jobs Report Lifts U.S. Stocks

U.S. payroll growth slowed sharply in September, with employers adding 29,000 jobs, well below economists’ forecast of 84,000, and the release was followed by lower Treasury yields and gains in major U.S. stock indexes. The figures, reported from the September labor report, also included downward revisions totaling 60,000 jobs for July and August. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 0.039 percentage point to 5.195% after the data, according to a market snapshot reported Friday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 300 points, while the S&P 500 gained about 1.05% and the Nasdaq Composite about 1.7% as of 10:22 a.m. ET. Those moves followed a volatile session Thursday, when the 10-year yield reached 5.34%, its highest level since 2002, before closing at 5.233% after buyers returned to the bond market. The September report also showed the unemployment rate rising to 4.2%, while average hourly earnings increased 0.1%, below the 0.3% gain economists had expected. The figures may influence expectations for Federal Reserve policy because the central bank considers employment alongside price stability.