NEW YORK, June 3 — Wall Street stocks dropped early today following a solid jobs report that was seen as confirming the Federal Reserve's efforts to contain inflation.
American employers added a greater-than-expected 390,000 jobs last month as unemployment held steady at 3.6 percent, the government reported today.
Investors had been especially focused on the report's implications for inflation in light of Fed plans to hike interest rates.
The pay rate rose 5.2 percent over the last 12 months ended in May, according to the data, but that was slightly slower than the increase for the 12 months ended in April, the report said.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare called the report "good and potentially bad at the same time."
O'Hare also highlighted a Reuters report that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk wants to trim headcount due to a "super bad feeling" about the economy. Tesla shares fell 6.2 percent.
About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 percent to 33,073.04.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent to 4,137.67, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.3 percent to 12,153.76. — AFP
