The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and pulled within 0.8% of its record set in August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 220 points, or 0.4%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher.
All of Wall Street got a jolt after the U.S. government said employers across the country added 29,000 jobs to their payrolls last month. That was fewer than economists expected and a slowdown from August’s hiring rate of 133,000.
More importantly for financial markets, it tamped down concerns that the U.S. economy could be so strong that it gives inflation enough fuel to drive even higher. Inflation has remained much higher than anyone would like, and the Federal reserve recently raised its main interest rate for the first time in three years to try to rein in the fast increases for the cost of living.
Even though Americans are feeling more frustrated about inflation and their finances, the overall U.S. economy has been chugging along. Earlier this week, the U.S. government said the economy's growth in the spring was stronger than earlier thought, driven by businesses building AI data centers and spending by consumers.
