The Nasdaq immediately spiked 1.5% after the Labor Department announced that April job creation fell way short of expectations.
In another sign of the uneven economic recovery, technology stocks are rallying Friday morning after the April jobs report—expected to show a stunning improvement in job creation—revealed that the labor market added far fewer jobs than forecast, signaling to investors that government stimulus efforts could last longer than expected and help push stocks higher. « This employment report was a game changer for investors… and a big surprise that justifies the Fed’s cautious stance, » says Moya, citing « overly confident » labor market expectations and a slew of commentary lambasting the Fed for continuing its unprecedented monetary support (including historically low interest rates and $120 billion in monthly bond purchases) despite concerns that pumping more money into the economy could spark problematic inflation.
