Stocks Edged Lower at Open after Strong Jobs Report

U.S. stocks edged lower at open on Friday, following a payroll report that wasn’t seen as strong enough to justify keeping the market at record levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 20.85 points, or 0.11%, to 19,171.08. The S&P 500 was up 1.95 points, or 0.09%, to 2,193.04. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.84 point, or 0.02%, to 5,251.95.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics just revealed that the US unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 4.6% in November. This is the lowest level since August 2007.During the month, US companies added 178,000 non-farm payrolls, which was a tad lighter than the 180,000 forecast by economists.

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) announced that it will continue offering individual fee-based retirement accounts to clients. However, the company will make some adjustments to its compliance procedure with the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new fiduciary rule, which is expected to come into effect from April next year.