U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Friday after the release of an employment report that showed bigger-than-expected job losses in March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 88.99 points, or 0.42%, to 21,324.45. The S&P 500 lost 3.21 points, or 0.13%, to 2,523.69. The Nasdaq Composite declined 6.05 points, or 0.08%, to 7,481.26.
Oil prices climbed again on Friday, boosted by hopes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will deliver a production cut and end a devastating price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery rose $1.16, or 4.6%, to $26.49 a barrel. June Brent crude climbed $2.63, or 8.8%, to $32.57 a barrel.
The U.S. lost 701,000 jobs in March, the government’s official employment scorecard showed. The reported decline in employment was the biggest in 11 years and one of the largest ever, but it’s going to get dwarfed by the job losses in April. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose to 4.4% from a 50-year low of 3.5% in February.
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