US Equity Indexes Drop in Midday Trading After Weak Jobs Report

12:36 PM EDT, 09/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes fell in midday trading on Friday as a bleak August jobs report sent government bond yields, the dollar, and crude oil sharply lower.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% to 21,658.9, with the S&P 500 down 0.5% to 6,467.8, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.5% lower at 45,385.7 amid concern that weakness in the labor market is growing.

The economically-sensitive energy, financials, and industrials led the decliners intraday, while real estate, a beneficiary of interest-rate cuts, was among the few gainers.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 22,000 last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, falling short of a 75,000 increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Gains for July were revised up by 6,000 to 79,000, while June payrolls were adjusted downwards by 27,000 to show a 13,000 decrease, the BLS said.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, as expected, up from 4.2% in July.

Most Treasury yields dropped, with the 10-year yield down 10.6 basis points to 4.07% and the two-year rate 11.4 basis points lower at 3.48%.

Gold futures rose 1.2% to $3,651.40, after scaling a new peak of $ 3,654.20 earlier in the session.

The ICE US Dollar Index slid 0.9% to 97.47.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures slumped 3.1% to $61.52 a barrel.

In company news, Lululemon Athletica (LULU) shares plunged 18% intraday, the steepest decline on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, after the company lowered its full-year outlook following a drop in fiscal Q2 net income.

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