March Jobs Report Drives Stocks Lower to Close Out Another Bumpy Week
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News that the U.S. economy lost more than 700,000 jobs in March sent media stocks into the red in early trading Friday to close out another bumpy week for U.S. equities.
The Department of Labor reported that employers shed 701,000 jobs in March, although the statistics do not reflect the worst of the coronavirus-related losses from later in the month after pandemic-related shutdowns put millions of Americans out of work. The unemployment rate, not surprisingly, soared to 4.4%, up from 3.5% in February. The job losses marked the first decline in non-farm employment stats in the U.S. since September 2010.
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The news that came an hour before trading began sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indices into negative territory early on. Media and tech shares were mostly lower.
Friday’s early decline follow a 470-point gain for the Dow on Thursday, fueled by hopes of stabilization coming to oil prices. The week began on an upswing, but the rally didn’t hold on Tuesday while Wednesday delivered another nearly 1,000-point decline.
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