US Stocks Rise Despite Surprise Job Market Decline

U.S. stock futures rose on Friday, despite a surprise decline in July's nonfarm payrolls. The Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 indices all gained ground after Thursday's lower close.

The Labor Department reported that the U.S. labor market cooled in July, with a net loss of 23,000 jobs. This fell short of FactSet's forecast of a gain of 97,500 jobs and was below June's revised increase of 20,000 jobs.

However, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%, beating expectations of 4.2%. Average hourly earnings remained flat at $37.62, up 3.2% year-over-year.

Luis Alvarado, Co-Head of Global Fixed Income at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, believes that the massive funding needs of artificial intelligence could put upward pressure on long-term yields and term premiums.