added 0.6%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 12 points, or 0.04%.
"It was the wage number that was benign relative to expectations," said Peter Boockvar of Bleakley Financial. "The tick up in the unemployment rate is why the market is breathing some sigh of relief here, at least on the bond side." While February's headline payrolls number came in above expectation, investors focused on the smaller-than-expected gain in wages in the report, which could cause the Federal Reserve to rethink getting more aggressive on rate hikes.
Average hourly earnings increased by 0.24% last month, lighter than the 0.4% increase expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate also ticked higher to 3.6% from 3.4% previously, adding credence to the argument that the job market was cooling a bit despite the better-than-expected payrolls number.
Wall Street posted a losing session Thursday. A drop in SVB Financial shares spurred a broad financial sector selloff, as investors grew concerned that higher interest rates would result in banks facing losses on loans due to borrower defaults. The selloff pushed the S&P's financial sector down 4.1% for its worst day since 2020.
Banks over earning because not paying fair rate on deposits
Fed rate hike will hit 6% by end of year . Be prepared for a sharp sell off by November /December