Jobs Pose Challenge S&P 500 Has Overcome Nine Times

U.S. employment growth that trailed economists’ forecasts in March presents a challenge that stocks have overcome nine times during the bull market that’s driven the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index up 107 percent in three years.

The Labor Department’s monthly tally of U.S. hiring missed the median projection by 85,000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While the S&P 500 averaged losses of 0.8 percent in the day after shortfalls of this magnitude since March 2009, the benchmark gauge cut its decline in half a week later and was up