Wall Street Indexes Lacked Direction After Nonfarm Payrolls Report Supported Higher-for-Longer Rate Case

Barry Adams
07 Feb, 2025
New York City

Wall Street indexes lacked direction in early trading as investors reviewed the nonfarm payrolls update. 

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.2% after the payrolls growth slowed in January from the previous month. 

Nonfarm payrolls increase slowed to 143,000 in January from the upwardly revised 307,000 in December. 

The jobless rate edged down 4.0%, and wages inched up 0.5% from the previous month and increased the annual growth to 4.1%, according to the latest data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. economy added an average of 166,000 jobs a month, totaling 1.99 million in 2024, slower than the average monthly increase of 225,000, totaling 2.7 million in 2022.

Despite the slowdown in job growth, policymakers are likely to focus on the wage increase, which is far higher and inconsistent with the Fed's target rate of 2%.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised up by 49,000 to 261,000, and for December was revised up by 51,000 to 307,000.

With these revisions, employment in November and December combined is 100,000 higher than previously reported.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Amazon.com Inc decreased 3% to $231.77 after the e-commerce company reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings in the latest quarter. 

However, the company's first quarter revenue growth outlook between 5% and 9%, the weakest on record, overshadowed quarterly results.

Pinterest Inc. jumped 21% to $40.75, and the online community platform operator reported a sharp increase in net income in the fourth quarter after the user base jumped.

Hershey Company increased 1% to $154.0 after the chocolate confectionery maker reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings and revenue in the fourth quarter.