The Labor Department released a report on Friday showing the growth of jobs in the United States in the past month.
The unemployment rate has dropped to 3.5 percent, down from 3.6 percent the previous month. In July, non-farm payrolls rose by 528,000 jobs, the biggest gain since February. The June data was revised higher to show 398,000 jobs created instead of the 372,000 previously reported.
Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Reuters Friday that the U.S. economy is in a recession.
We believe that this data will give the Fed the confidence it needs to push ahead aggressively in its fight against inflation. Despite the positive jobs data, stocks were mixed. The Dow Jones gained 76.65 points or 0.23 percent to 32,803. The Nasdaq Composite fell 63.03 points or 0.50 percent to 12,657. The Standard and Poor's 500 slipped 6.75 points or 0.16 percent to 4,145. The euro fell to 1.0162 at the New York close Friday, on the back of the jobs data. The British pound fell to 1.2028. The Japanese yen fell to 134.70. The Swiss franc fell to 0.9624.
The Canadian dollar was lower at 1.2954. The Australian dollar dropped to 0.6888. German Dax fell by 0.65 percent on overseas equity markets. The Paris-based CAC 40 was down 0.63 percent. The FTSE 100 lost 0.11 percent in London.
The Australian All Ordinaries increased by 42.80 points or 0.59 percent to 7,250. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 243.67 points or 0.87 percent to 28,175. New Zealand's S&P NZX 50 dipped 7.00 points or 0.06 percent to 11,728, 47, going against the trend.
The Hang Seng moved 27.90 points or 0.14 percent to 20,201 in Hong Kong.