U.S. stocks opened higher Friday as investors parsed a fresh report on the job market and Treasury yields retreated. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
was up 0.3% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500
SPX,
rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
climbed 0.5%, according to FactSet data, at last check.
The U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in July, with the unemployment rate dipping to 3.5% from 3.6% in June, according to a report Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of new jobs was softer than the 200,000 anticipated by Wall Street. The employment report also showed average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in July, up 4.4% over the past 12 months. Last month’s wage growth was slightly higher than expected.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was down about five basis points at 4.14% on Friday morning while two-year Treasury rates fell seven basis points to around 4.83%, according to FactSet data, at last check.
