CompaniesBIO

Hiring in July was far better than expected, defying signs that the economic recovery is losing steam, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls rose 528,000 for the month and the unemployment rate was 3.5%, easily topping the Dow Jones estimates of 258,000 and 3.6% respectively. Wage growth also surged higher, as average hourly earnings jumped 0.5% for the month and 5.2% from the same time a year ago. Those numbers add fuel to an inflation picture that already has consumer prices rising at their fastest rate since the early 1980s. The Dow Jones estimate was for a 0. 3% monthly gain and 4.9% annual increase. Markets initially reacted negatively to the report, with Dow Jones futures down more than 200 points. Leisure and hospitality led the way in job gains with 96,000, followed by professional and business services with 89,000. Health care added 70,000 and government payrolls grew 57,000. Goods-producing industries also posted solid gains, with construction up...

Battling inflation that remains at four-decade highs, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it hiked its key interest rate by another 0.75%. "Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures," the Fed said in its statement Wednesday. It added it is "strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2% objective."  The rate hikes this year have unfolded against the backdrop of a consumer price index that has remained elevated. In September, it clocked in at 8.2% on an annual basis. Food and energy price increases were higher. Even stripped of those two items, whose price swings tend to be more volatile, the index saw its largest increase since 1982. In a press conference following the release of the central bank's statement, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Americans can expect more rate increases , though perhaps not of the same magnitude as the most recent ones. ...

Job growth fell short of expectations in September as efforts by the Federal Reserve to slow inflation took their toll on hiring, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 263,000 for the month, compared to the Dow Jones estimate of 275,000. The unemployment rate was 3.5% versus the forecast of 3.7%. September’s payroll figure marked a deceleration from the 315,000 gain in August and tied for the lowest monthly increase since April 2021. In the closely watched wage numbers, average hourly earnings rose 0.3% on the month, in line with estimates, and 5% from a year ago, an increase that is still well above the pre-pandemic norm but 0.1 percentage point below the forecast. Stock market futures moved lower after the release while government bond yields rose. From a sector view, leisure and hospitality led the gains with an increase of 83,000, a gain that still left the industry 1.1 million jobs short of its February 2020 pre-pandemic levels. Elsewhere, health car...

Stocks fell on Friday as traders evaluated September’s jobs report , which showed the unemployment rate continuing to decline and sparked an increase in interest rates . The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 682 points, or 2.3%, to 29,264.39. The S&P 500 lost 3% to 3,642.68. The Nasdaq Composite slid 3.9% to 10,651.75, which is less than 1% above its low of the year. Friday’s jobs numbers showed the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in September, slightly below a Dow Jones estimate of 275,000. However, the unemployment rate came in at 3.5%, down from the 3.7% in the previous month in a sign that the jobs picture continues to strengthen even as the Federal Reserve tries to slow the economy with rate hikes to stem inflation. “While the data was about as expected, the drop in the unemployment rate is seemingly what the markets are obsessed with because of what it means for the Fed,” said Bleakley Financial chief investment officer Peter Boockvar. “When combined with the low level of ...