Stock market update: Wall Street sets new records after strong Oct jobs report.

On Friday, stocks soared with major benchmarks making a rally to new records as investors reacted favorably to the October jobs report. The October jobs report shows a better-than-expected pick-up in payroll growth and another improvement in the unemployment rate. The blue-chip index set a new intraday record in the wake of the data, extending Thursday’s gains and reaching a seventh consecutive record closing high. The S&P 500 also rose about 2% for the week to mark a fifth straight weekly gain-its longest winning streak since August 2020. The Nasdaq also jumped to a record the broad move higher in tech shares, and the Dow reached a record close as well.
On the other hand, the Labor Department’s October job reports show that non-farm payrolls rose by 531,000 last month, compared to the 450,000 expected. Payrolls were also upwardly revised for both August and September. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.6%, its lowest since March 2020. And average hourly earnings rose at a 4.9% year-on-year pace, with wages pushed higher as companies competed for workers amid widespread labor scarcities. The October report suggested negative impacts from the Delta variant wave in late summer were beginning to dissipate, especially given the jump in hiring in leisure and hospitality industries and other high-contact areas of the economy.