Good news on the economy remains bad news for Wall Street, as stocks fell sharply Friday on worries a still-strong US jobs market may actually make a recession more likely. The S&P 500 ended 2.8% lower, falling 104.86 points to close at 3,639.66, after briefly dropping 3.3% as traders weighed a government report showing employers hired more workers last month than economists expected, the AP reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.1%, or 630.15 points to 29,296.79. The Nasdaq composite lost 3.8%, 420.91 points, to close at 10,652.40.
Wall Street is worried the Federal Reserve could see that as proof the economy has yet to slow enough to get inflation under control. That could clear the way for the Fed to continue raising interest rates aggressively, something that risks causing a recession if done too severely. "The employment situation is still good, and that might be a little frustrating to the Fed," said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Allspring Global Investments. "The Fed thinks we need more people unemployed in order to make sure inflation comes down and stays down."
Stocks have tumbled over 20% from records this year on worries about inflation, interest rates, and the possibility of a recession. The major indexes managed to notch a gain for the week, thanks to a powerful but short-lived rally Monday and Tuesday after some investors squinted hard enough at some weaker-than-expected economic data to suggest the Fed may take it easier on rate hikes. But Friday's jobs report may have dashed such hopes for a pivot by the Fed. It's a pattern that has been repeated several times this year.
(More
stock market stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
