
Stocks closed higher Wednesday as investors cheered another bad-news-is-good-news reading on the labor market. However, enthusiasm was contained after a separate economic report stirred up recession fears.
Ahead of the opening bell, ADP said the U.S. added 177,000 private payrolls in August, well below the 200,000 increase expected by economists and the downwardly revised 324,000 gain in July. The Federal Reserve has consistently expressed concern that a stubbornly tight labor market is working at odds with its efforts to bring down inflation, so today's data is welcome news.