. The S&P 500 closed 1.4% lower after being down as much as 2.9% earlier. The Nasdaq fell 2.2% and the Dow gave up 1%. Employers laid off fewer workers than anticipated last week and the economy grew more strongly in the summer than expected. Usually that would be good news, particularly when worries are high about a possible recession looming. But it also suggests the Federal Reserve may follow through on its pledge to stay aggressive on economy-crunching interest rates.
The S&P 500 was 1.6% lower in afternoon trading after having been down 2.9% earlier in the day. The pullback brings Wall Street’s main measure of health back to a loss of 20% for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 432 points, or 1.3%, at 32,941, as of 3:21 pm. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 2.4%.
Usually, good data on the economy would be positive for markets, particularly when worries are high about a possible recession looming. But Thursday’s reports suggested the Federal Reserve may indeed follow through on its pledge to keep hiking interest rates and to hold them at a high level for a while in order to get inflation under control.
The Fed is particularly worried about a still-strong job market giving more oxygen to inflation, which has come down a bit in recent months but remains close to its highest level in decades. One report on Thursday indicated
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