US Stock Futures Slide As Oct Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2%
Geoffrey Rogow
The Wall Street Journal
]November 6, 2009
[efoods]U.S. stock futures fell broadly Friday morning after a report showed U.S. unemployment hit its highest level in more than 26 years in October.
Shortly after the report, Dow Jones Industrial futures traded down 54 points to 9899, while Standard & Poor’s 500 futures slid 8 to 1057. Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 7 to 1712. U.S. stock futures had pointed slightly higher into the report, with the Dow trading between 10 and 20 points higher for much of the last hour.
Setting off the decline, the Labor Department said U.S. unemployment rose by more than expected in October and employers cut more jobs than forecast, a sign the labor market continues to struggle as the economy emerges from its deep recession. The unemployment rate, calculated using a survey of households as opposed to companies, rose by 0.4 percentage point to 10.2%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast an increase to 9.9%.
Nonfarm payrolls fell by 190,000 last month, with the largest job losses in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade. Economists had expected a 175,000 decrease.
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