Stocks fell on Friday as investors weighed a stronger-than-expected jobs report for May and how it may impact the Federal Reserve's monetary policy moving forward. The Dow Jones Industrial Average nearly 350 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite slid over 1% and 2.5% lower, respectively.
All market benchmarks ended the shortened trading week in the red, with the S&P 500 falling 1.2%, while the Dow and Nasdaq Each lost nearly 1%.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -1.64% or -68.33 points to 4,108.51
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -1.05% or -349.83 points to 32,898.45
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -2.47% or -304.16 points to 12,012.73
Tesla to pause hiring, cut 10% of workforce:
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares fell on Friday following news that CEO Elon Musk plans to halt new hiring and cut jobs.
In an email to executives, Musk wrote that he has a "super bad feeling" about the economy and needs to "pause all hiring worldwide" and reduce the company's positions by 10%, according to Reuters.
Tesla currently has about 100,000 employees at the company and its subsidiaries at the end of 2021, according to Tesla's annual U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
Musk's comments come just two days after he told staff to return to the office at least 40 hours per week or leave the company. Tesla's hiring freeze and job cuts also follows other decisions and warnings from tech companies in recent weeks.
U.S. added 390,000 jobs in May:
The U.S. employers added more-than-expected jobs in May despite ongoing concerns over the health of the economy amid decades high inflation.
The U.S. payroll gained by 390,000 jobs in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report published Friday, pulling back from April's upwardly revised 436,000 print and marking the lowest monthly gain since April 2021. The unemployment rate remained at 3.6% in May.
Beneath the headline, leisure and hospitality added the most positions, gaining 84,000, while professional and business services rose by 75,000, transportation and warehousing climbed 47,000, and construction jobs increased by 36,000. Other sectors saw large gains, including state government education at 36,000, private education at 33,000, health care at 28,000, manufacturing at 18,000, and wholesale trade at 14,000.
Notably, retail lost 61,000 positions in May, but the BLS noted that the sector remains 159,000 above its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
Here's how benchmarks started trading after market open:
S&P 500 Index: -1.17% or -48.76 points to 4,128.06
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.87% or -289.00 points to 32,959.28
Nasdaq Composite Index: -1.77% or -218.39 points to 12,098.51