Wall Street opens higher after lacklustre jobs data

Wall Street opened higher this afternoon, powered by gains for major tech stocks after new data showed US jobs growth fell well short of expectations.

The Dow Jones opened 0.2 per cent higher, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up more than 0.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

Highly valued tech stocks including Apple, Amazon and Facebook led the charge, pushing higher shortly after markets opened.

It came after Labor Department figures revealed non-farm payrolls grew by just 226,000 jobs in April. This was well below estimates of 1m and a sharp slowdown from the 770,000 additions in March.

The disappointing figures have been blamed on a labour shortage as businesses scramble to deal with renewed demand as lockdown measures are lifted.

But investors were buoyed as the numbers eased worries about the economy overheating and fears the Federal Reserve could begin to reduce its stimulus programme.

The report also showed the unemployment rate rose to 6.1 per cent in April from six per cent the previous month, and total payrolls are still 8m below the level seen in February 2020.

“This is still a long way away from the Fed getting friskier on thinking about raising rates, despite what Treasury Secretary Yellen may have misspoken about this week,” said Charles Hepworth, investment director at GAM Investments.

“So the goldilocks scenario of cheap money in a now slower recovering jobs economy continues for the time being.”