Stocks traded in a wide range Friday, sinking deep into the red mid-morning in reaction to the latest jobs report. However, the main indexes were in positive territory by the close after an early afternoon speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell brought bulls back to the table.
Ahead of the open, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the U.S. added 151,000 new jobs in February – more than in January but fewer than the 160,000 that economists expected. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% from 4.0%, while average hourly earnings increased 0.3% month to month and 4% year over year.
