The government reported that there were 11.2 million open jobs on the last day of July. That’s about two jobs for every unemployed person, on average. That number was up from June’s 11 million, and the June figure was also revised up considerably.
“Employers will have to increase their incentives to fill jobs, which could be inflationary,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “We’re not seeing numbers that are constantly encouraging.”
Wall Street is concerned that the Fed could slam on the brakes too hard on an already slowing economy and push it into a recession. Higher interest rates also hurt investment prices, especially for more expensive stocks.
The central bank has already raised interest rates four times this year and is expected to raise short-term rates by another 0.75 percentage point at its next meeting in September, according to CME Group.
Selling was widespread on Tuesday, with all sectors of the S&P 500 ending in the red. In all, the S&P 500 fell 44.45 points to 3,986.16. The Dow fell 308.12 points to 31,790.87 and the Nasdaq fell 134.53 points to 11,883.14. The Russell 2000 lost 27.35 points to close at 1,855.59.
Major indices had gained ground in July and early August on the hope that weaker economic data would prompt the Fed to ease its high interest rate policy. Those gains followed a weak first half of the year in which the S&P 500 fell 20 percent from its most recent high and entered a bear market.
Charging
Investors have been watching economic data closely for additional signs that the economy is slowing or that inflation may be cooling or at least holding its current level. Businesses and consumers have been hit hard by rising prices for everything from food to clothing, but recent drops in gasoline prices have provided some relief.
Consumers regained some confidence in August, according to a survey by The Conference Board. Its consumer confidence index rose this month after three straight monthly declines. It also rose well above what economists expected.
Technology stocks were among the heaviest weights in the index on Tuesday. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 2.1 percent.
While the price of US crude has risen more than 43 percent this year, it has fallen nearly 5 percent this month.
“The biggest challenge with oil is the fact that the Fed has basically said it’s going to do economic pain to try and bring down inflation and usually when there’s an economic slowdown or a recession, energy prices go To increase. fall,” Horneman said.
Best Buy was a bright spot, gaining 1.6 percent after reporting results for its latest quarter that were much better than analysts expected.
The 10-year Treasury yield held steady at 3.11 percent.
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