It’s discouraging because a relatively solid job market has been one of the linchpins keeping the US economy stable. A more comprehensive report on the job market from the US government will arrive on Friday.
Wednesday’s reports add to worries that Trump’s trade war may drag the U.S. economy into a recession. The president’s on-again-off-again rollout of tariffs has already created deep uncertainty about what’s to come, which could cause damage by itself.
The uncertainty created severe and historic swings in financial markets, from stocks to bonds to the value of the US dollar, that battered investors through April. The S&P 500 at one point dropped nearly 20% below its all-time high set earlier this year, with scary headlines at one point warning of the worst April since the Great Depression.
But the uncertainty has been two-sided, and hopes that Trump may relent on some of his tariffs and reach trade deals with other countries helped the S&P 500 claw back much of its losses. It’s set to finish April with a loss of less than 2%, which would be milder than March’s, and it’s roughly 10% below its record.
Stronger-than-expected profit reports from big US companies have also helped support the market, and Seagate Technology jumped 8.7% for one of Wednesday’s biggest gains after the maker of data storage joined the parade.
But potentially discouraging trends within the artificial-intelligence industry helped offset such gains for storage makers. AI stocks have been pulling back sharply on worries that their prices shot too high in prior years, when a frenzy around the industry drove them to breathtaking heights.
Super Micro Computer warned that some customers delayed purchases in the latest quarter, which caused the maker of servers used in AI and other computing to slash its forecast for sales and profit. Its stock tumbled 15.4% for the largest loss in the S&P 500.
