Stocks mixed after better-than-expected jobs data
NEW YORK -- Conflicting signals about the job market are giving investors reason to be cautious.
Stock indexes drifted between gains and losses before ending mixed but little changed on Friday. Treasurys sank, driving long-terms yields to their highest levels of the year, while oil jumped to $70 a barrel for the first time since October.
The Labor Department said employers cut 345,000 jobs in May, far less than the 520,000 economists predicted, in the latest hopeful sign for the labor market. However the report also showed that the unemployment rate surged to a higher-than-expected 9.4% from 8.9% in April, suggesting that companies are still reluctant to hire.
"When nearly 10% of people are out of work, it's hard for me to say things are so positive," said Anthony Conroy, head trader for BNY ConvergEx Group. "The markets are feeling better even though the economy is still sick."
Unemployment has been one of the most closely watched gauges of the economy's health throughout the recession. Rising job losses affect vast areas of the economy, including consumer spending, retail sales and the housing market.
"There is pretty good evidence that the recession is bottoming," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist of ChannelCapitalResearch.com. "The real question is the type of recovery. Just because we're reaching a bottom doesn't mean a bounce is imminent."
May's job losses, the fewest since September, appeared too good to be true to some investors. Rumors swept the trading floors Friday morning that the government had misreported the job cut figure, sending the Dow negative in midmorning trading. The Labor Department shot down the rumor.
At the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 13, or 0.2%, at 8,763. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2, or 0.3%, to 940, while the Nasdaq composite index was down 1 at 1,849.
All three indexes remain on track to finish the week with a gain, and are trading near their best levels so far for 2009.
