The S&P 500 slipped Friday but logged its fourth consecutive week of gains. Major U.S. stock indexes edged lower after data showed the labor market lost jobs for the first time in seven years. Still, stocks ended the week near records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1% to 22,774 and rose 1.7% for the week. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite added less than 0.1%. Economic data in the second half of the year has been largely upbeat, and corporate earnings are still solid, which has helped U.S. stocks climb even as some have expressed concerns about the length of the rally, investors and analysts said. The S&P 500 hit its sixth consecutive closing high Thursday, posting its longest streak of records in 20 years. Overall market reaction was relatively muted after the Labor Department said Friday that nonfarm employment fell by a seasonally adjusted 33,000 in September. The figure missed economists' estimates and marked the first time since September 2010 that the labor market failed to add jobs. But other parts of the report were more encouraging, showing workers' hourly earnings jumping and the unemployment rate falling more than expected. Nascent signs of wage growth could push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again before the end of the year, some analysts said. The U.S. gold price bounced back on Friday, gaining 0.7% to finish at 1,276.1 US$/oz.
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