Stocks surged to open Thursday trading in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it was lowering interest rates by half a percentage point. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 400 points, or about 1%. The S&P 500 was up 1.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up more than 2.5%. The Fed’s cut was widely expected, but came in larger than many analysts were forecasting. In a press conference announcing the decision, Fed Chair Jay Powell said the U.S.
At the same time, a growing set of indicators suggest economic growth may have begun heading in the wrong direction. While the unemployment rate ticked down in August to 4.2%, it has climbed in four of the last five months, a pace that often precedes recessions. Layoffs remain subdued — and on Thursday, weekly jobless claims came in lower than expected, but hiring has slowed dramatically, especially for many white-collar occupations.