Stocks ended Thursday's session mixed, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 slipping lower, while the Nasdaq climbed higher on tech strength, as August's disappointing job market report showed the impact of the Delta variant on economic recovery.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently emphasized the need for more job market strength before the central bank begins to taper its pandemic-era fiscal stimulus, and the lackluster report may signal the need for more support moving into the next year.
For the week, the Nasdaq was the best performer, rising by 1.5%. Elsewhere, the S&P 500 added about 0.6%, while the Dow slipped 0.2% lower.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.03% or -1.41 points to 4,535.54
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.21% or -74.47 points to 35,369.35
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.21% or +32.34 points to 15,363.52
Biden says Delta variant is behind the disappointing August jobs report:
President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass his administration's more than $4 trillion economic agency in order to boost labor market growth after August's disappointing payroll additions report. Biden blamed the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting on the Delta variant, as the reason behind the labor market's sluggish recovery.
"There's no question the Delta variant is why today's job report isn't stronger," Biden said at the White House shortly after the data came out. "We need to make more progress in fighting the Delta variant."
Biden added that the United States could boost its economy by curbing the spread of the virus and by passing his two economic packages, which he said would benefit the middle class.
August jobs report disappoints:
The U.S. economy added back dramatically fewer jobs last month as the Delta variant began to impact the pace of the labor market's recovery.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 235,000 in August, according to the Labor Department's latest report published Friday, disappointing consensus economist expectations for 733,000 additions and falling from July's print of more than 1 million.
Beneath the headline, the services sector was the driving force behind the payroll print, with leisure and hospitality employers adding back a net zero jobs in August after adding more than 400,000 in July. However, manufacturing job additions were a leader for the month, adding 37,000 positions following a gain of 53,000 from July.
Nevertheless, the unemployment rate improved to a new pandemic-era low of 5.2%, but the labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 61.7%.
Here's how benchmarks started trading soon after opening bell:
S&P 500 Index: -0.15% or -6.73 points to 4,530.22
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.18% or -64.58 points to 35,379.24
Nasdaq Composite Index: -0.10% or -14.63 points to 15,316.55