A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link. That, at least temporarily, stalled the gangbusters 2024 stock rally and lowered morale on Wall Street. Traders fear that elevated rates will uphold painfully high borrowing costs for consumers, squeeze corporate profit and weigh down the market.
The slowdown in both wage gain and payroll growth last month is supportive of hopes that the Fed can tamp down inflation without triggering a recession, according to some investors. “The case for rate cuts got a little stronger,” wrote David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation, in a note earlier this month. “Goldilocks could be making a comeback.