U.S. stocks close lower Friday on tepid jobs report

U.S. stock indexes ended lower Friday with technology stocks under pressure as bond yields rose after a monthly report on the labor market came in much weaker than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.69 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 34,746.25. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 74.48 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 14,579.54. The S&P 500 slipped 8.42 points, or 0.2%, to end at 4,391.34.

The Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls report showed the U.S. economy in September created the fewest jobs in nine months as hiring dropped at schools and some businesses were short of workers. The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 194,000 jobs in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 366,000 jobs in August.

Despite the much weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in September from 5.2% in August.

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