NEW YORK, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks fell on Friday after data showed the nation's November payrolls came in lower than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 59.71 points, or 0.17 percent, to 34,580.08. The S&P 500 dropped 38.67 points, or 0.84 percent, to 4,538.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 295.85 points, or 1.92 percent, to 15,085.47.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with consumer discretionary and technology down 1.84 percent and 1.65 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. Consumer staples rose 1.4 percent, the best-performing group.

U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded lower with all the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

The U.S. economy added 210,000 jobs in November while the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 4.2 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday.

The job growth, far below economists' expectations for 550,000 jobs, represented the smallest monthly gain since last December, signaling a slower pace of hiring amid uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The increase in labor force participation in November is helpful in absorbing labor demand but the still-mysterious Omicron variant could be in the driver's seat for the trajectory of the next few months," Will Compernolle, senior economist at FHN Financial, said Friday in a note. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)