U.S. added just 73,000 jobs last month, Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday
President Trump said he directed his team to fire the top Bureau of Labor Statistics official after the bureau issued a weak jobs report on Friday.
The report weighed on markets Friday along with Trump's revamped tariff plan. Trump in a social media post said Erika McEntarfer, the BLS commissioner, would be “replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” asserting without evidence that the government’s jobs numbers have been manipulated for political purposes.
The July jobs report undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy added just 106,000 positions over the past three months, although unemployment stood at 4.2% last month, matching expectations.
The dollar sank in its steepest one-day fall since April 10, while Treasury yields dropped and the Dow industrials shed 1.2%, or 542 points. The VIX, a market-volatility index often dubbed a fear gauge, shot higher. After the report, investors ramped up bets that the Federal Reserve will now be more inclined to cut rates to support the economy.
On tariffs, trading partners, including Switzerland and Taiwan, said they would keep trying to negotiate with the White House. Switzerland faces a 39% tariff rate—higher than the 31% floated in April—while Taiwanese goods will be levied at a 20% rate.
The president hiked levies on Canadian goods that don't comply with a North American trade agreement to 35%, starting today. Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he was disappointed, but the country doesn't appear eager to retaliate.
Countries that run small trade surpluses with the U.S. will largely get 15% duties, while those with deficits will have 10% tariffs. Trump gave Mexico more time to set a trade deal and avoid higher tariffs, extending current rates by 90 days.
Meanwhile, Amazon shares sold off 8.3% after the company reported disappointing growth in its cloud-computing arm. Other companies this week warned that tariff uncertainty is weighing on their businesses.
As of late Friday:
Stock indexes dropped. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2%, leading losses. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6%, while the Dow suffered its worst week since the "Liberation Day" week in early April.
Treasury yields fell after the jobs report. Yields on 10-year notes dropped more than 0.1 percentage point to finish the day at 4.218%.
European stocks skidded, with Italian, French and German indexes down more than 2.5%.
Asian indexes declined too. South Korea's Kospi slid 3.9% after Seoul proposed higher taxes on corporations and investors.
Dollar Index shed 1.1%.
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