Major indexes fell on Friday as bank stocks struggled following the sudden collapse of one of Silicon Valley’s biggest lenders, which launched a failed bid to help shore up cash during the challenging economy and ushered in the stock market’s worst week of the year.
A mixed jobs report on Friday morning did little to quell investor concerns. According to the Labor Department, total employment increased by 311,000 jobs in February—significantly more than the 225,000 figure economists were expecting. However, the unemployment also unexpectedly ticked up from 3.4% to 3.6%, signaling more Americans have started looking for work. “It’s no longer accurate to say without reservation that the labor market is a bright spot in the economy,” Glassdoor chief economist Aaron Terrazas said after the report.
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