US Bond Market Sees Relief as Jobs Report Eases Inflation Worries
The US bond market received some relief on Friday after the latest jobs report showed fewer-than-expected job additions, which eased concerns about inflation. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and approached its all-time high set in August.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 220 points, or 0.4%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite increased by 1.4%. The jobs report revealed that employers added only 29,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, a slowdown from August's hiring rate of 133,000.
This development helped calm worries about inflation and led traders to pull back on bets for a potential interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve later this month. The probability of an October rate hike fell to 18%, down from 64% a week ago, according to data from CME Group.
Adam Schickling, senior economist at Vanguard, stated that 'the labor market has not deteriorated sharply, but there is also little evidence that it has meaningfully strengthened, giving policymakers reason to wait for additional data.'