Stocks rose higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite each notching fresh record highs, after a better-than-expected jobs report for June helped support the market's recent positive momentum.
The S&P 500
The Labor Department's "official" jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls rising by 147,000 in June, topping the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 110,000 and May's upwardly revised print of 144,000. The unemployment rate also unexpectedly ticked lower to 4.1% -- economists called for it to rise to 4.3%.
The strong jobs report comes as other recent reports signal a mixed labor market. On Wednesday, data from payroll processing firm ADP reported that private employers unexpectedly cut 33,000 jobs in June, marking the first month of losses since March 2023. However, on Tuesday the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for May showed open positions rising to their highest level since November 2024, while the quits and hiring rates held near decade lows.
"The risk going forward is that slower labor force growth keeps the unemployment rate low even as the number of unemployed rises," Oxford Economics lead US economists Nancy Vanden Houten wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.
Wall Street ended the holiday-shortened week in the green on Thursday, with the Dow outperforming the broader market with a gain of 2.3%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, rose 1.7% and 1.6% for the week, respectively.
The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq closed at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday and will remain closed on Friday in observance of Independence Day. Markets will be open at regular hours on Monday.
