Stocks Slump 1% After Jobs Report, Dow Skids 150; Vix Spikes 10%
” Stocks dropped more than 1 percent across the board Friday, with all key S&P sectors in the red, following a much weaker-than-expected March unemployment report in addition to ongoing worries over North Korea.The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 150 points, dragged byCisco and Bank of America.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also slumped sharply. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, spiked above 15.
All key S&P sectors were firmly in negative territory, led by techs and financials.
U.S. employers hired at the slowest pace in nine months in March, adding just 88,000, while the unemployment rate notched lower to 7.6 percent, largely due to people dropping out of the work force, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate is the lowest since December 2008, while the labor force participation rate is at the lowest since 1979. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a gain of 200,000.
Earlier this week, private sector employment and jobless claims data indicated weakness in the labor market. Reports on the manufacturing and services sectors also disappointed.”
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- Jobs report: Hiring slows severely in March (wgntv.com)
- Unemployment Falls to 7.6 Percent; Job Gains Slow Considerably (usnews.com)
- People Not In Labor Force Soar By 663,000 To 90 Million, Labor Force Participation Rate At 1979 Levels (zerohedge.com)
- The volatility futures (section1256.com)
- Jobs report: Only 88,000 jobs added; Update: “This is a punch to the gut” (hotair.com)
- To praise the February jobs report is to embrace the New Normal economy (aei-ideas.org)
- Payrolls Plunge To 88K, Biggest Miss Since December 2009, Participation Rate At New 30 Year Low (zerohedge.com)
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