The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped on Wednesday after the better-than-expected delayed January jobs report failed to spark a sustainable advance.
The blue-chip index traded down 109 points, or 0.2%, as did the Nasdaq Composite. The S&P 500 hovered around the flatline.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January nonfarm payrolls report — which had been delayed due to a partial government shutdown that ended on Feb. 3 — showed job growth of 130,000 last month. Economists polled by Dow Jones had called for a gain of 55,000. The latest figure also marked a sizable increase from December, which was downwardly revised to 48,000.
The unemployment rate also landed at 4.3%, a bit below the Dow Jones forecast for 4.4%.
While the report showed the strongest job gains in more than a year, areas of growth remained concentrated in just a few sectors, predominantly health care-related, which…
