U.S. stocks closed mixed Friday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied after initially declining when the latest jobs report showed a still-tight labor market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.94 points, or 0.10%, to close at 34,428.95. The S&P 500 fell 4.94 points, or 0.12%, to close at 4,071.63, and the Nasdaq fell 20.95 points, or 0.18%, to close at 11,461.50.
The Labor Department reported that 263,000 jobs were added in November, exceeding Dow Jones estimates of 200,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%.
The Dow advances came two days after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated the central bank would increase rates 0.5% at its meeting next month after hiking rates 0.75% three consecutive times in the last three-monthly meetings.
“It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down,” Powell said in a speech at the Brookings Institution Wednesday. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.”
The Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates seven times this year in an effort to bring inflation under control. The increases have raised worries about a looming recession.
Some stocks that rose Friday included Boeing (BA), which closed at $182.88, up $7.10, or 4.04%. Meta Platform’s (META) price of shares rose $3.05, or 2.53%, to close at $123.49.
“Just one strong labor data point is not going to be enough after Powell’s speech,” Anna Han, vice president at Wells Fargo Securities, told CNBC. “He’s confirming that we are seeing the trend that we are having an impact on inflation, so I think that sort of soothes the market and takes pressure off.”
