Wall Street shakes off weak jobs data
November 7, 2009
New York - Wall Street stocks wobbled before ending with slender gains Friday as investors shrugged off a disappointing US labor market report to end a strong week on an upbeat note.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 17.53 points (0.18 percent) to 10,023.49 at the closing bell, in choppy trade that saw swings in and out of positive territory.
The gains capped a week in which the Dow rose some three percent.
The Nasdaq composite increased 6.90 points (0.33 percent) to 2,112.22 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index added 2.66 points (0.25 percent) to a preliminary close of 1,069.29.
Market action was volatile after a much-anticipated report early Friday showed the US unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October as 190,000 jobs were shed.
The Labor Department report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, showed a rise in the jobless rate from 9.8 percent in September to the highest since 1983. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in over a year.
Analysts said the report highlighted slow progress in bringing down unemployment as the economy emerges from recession, leaving the market hesitant.
"Equities are flummoxed as to how to ascertain what the unemployment means for direction," said Andrew Busch at BMO Capital Markets.
Cary Leahey, senior economist at Decision Economics, said the the report highlighted bad news for many Americans but showed that companies are returning to profitability by slashing jobs.
"You have a V-shaped recovery in earnings but the V has stalled in employment," he said. "That's why the stock market can rise even when the situation for many Americans is so bad."
Sapa-AFP
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