Stocks slipped in midday trading Friday on news that the U.S. added fewer jobs than expected in August and wage growth was anemic.
The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy generated 169,000 new jobs last month, below economists’ estimates of 190,000, but July jobs growth was revised upward. Wages grew just 0.1%, below 0.3% forecasts.
The news added to evidence that the economy was already slowing before Hurricane Katrina hit.
The Nasdaq was off 3 to 2144, S&P 500 was down 1 to 1220, and the Dow slipped 3 to 10,457. Volume was at a slower pre-holiday pace, with 800,000 shares traded on the NYSE and 600,000 on the Nasdaq.
Neoware and Finisar
soared more than 20% each on strong quarterly results.
JDS Uniphase was unchanged on its results.
Intel and AMD
edged higher as their antitrust dispute heated up.
Microchip slipped 1% after the company said it will meet estimates.